The Lesson History Teaches About Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The question remains critically important. However, it also led me to reflect on another aspect of the discussion.

Throughout history, humanity has repeatedly encountered transformative technologies that changed how people learn, think, and solve problems. Almost every one of those advances was accompanied by concerns that the new tool would weaken human capability. Yet when we look back, a different story emerges.

The history of innovation is not simply a story of new technologies. It is also a story of recurring fears about those technologies and how society ultimately adapted.

Long before calculators and computers existed, arithmetic itself represented a technological advantage. The widespread adoption of Arabic numerals made calculations significantly easier than earlier systems. While it is difficult for us to imagine today, even this advancement generated concern among some scholars who believed that easier calculation might diminish mental discipline.

Instead, mathematics flourished.

As the ability to do calculations became easier, people were able to tackle more sophisticated problems. Commerce expanded. Science advanced. Knowledge grew.

The same pattern appeared with the development of logarithms and logarithmic tables. Complex calculations that once consumed enormous amounts of time could now be completed far more efficiently.

Some worried that reliance on these tools would reduce mathematical skill. Yet engineers, navigators, astronomers, and scientists used them to unlock new discoveries and expand the boundaries of human understanding.

Centuries later, the slide rule became the defining tool of technical professionals.

Generations of engineers carried slide rules in their pockets (my father included). The tool dramatically accelerated calculations, allowing engineers to focus less on arithmetic and more on design, analysis, and innovation.

Many of the technological achievements that shaped the modern world were developed by professionals using slide rules. Bridges, power systems, aircraft, and even the technologies that ultimately enabled humans to walk on the moon were designed by individuals whose capabilities were amplified by these tools.

Then came the electronic calculator.

For many educators and professionals, the calculator represented a turning point. If a machine could instantly perform calculations, would students still learn mathematics? Would engineers lose essential skills? Would convenience come at the expense of understanding?

Those concerns sound remarkably familiar today.

Yet the calculator did not eliminate the need for mathematical knowledge. Engineers still needed to understand equations. Scientists still needed to understand the laws governing physical systems. The calculator simply reduced the time required to execute calculations.

The result was not less capability, but greater productivity.

The arrival of personal computers accelerated the trend. Engineers could model systems that previous generations could only approximate. Researchers could analyze data at unprecedented scale. Professionals could explore alternatives, test assumptions, and evaluate scenarios in ways that would once have required months of effort.

Again, concerns emerged. Some worried that software would replace understanding. Others feared that professionals would become overly dependent on technology.

Yet the most successful individuals were not those who rejected the new tools. They were those who combined foundational expertise with new capabilities.

The internet produced another dramatic shift.

For much of human history, information was scarce. Finding knowledge often required significant effort. Today, information is abundant.

When search engines emerged, critics argued that easy access to information would weaken memory and reduce learning. Instead, knowledge became more accessible than at any point in human history. Learning accelerated because barriers to information largely disappeared.

The smartphone extended this transformation even further.

For the first time, billions of people carried a library, calculator, camera, communication platform, navigation system, and research tool in their pockets. Knowledge became available almost anywhere and at almost any time.

Once again, concerns followed. People worried about dependence, distraction, and the decline of traditional skills.

Some of those concerns remain valid. Every technology introduces both opportunities and challenges.

Yet the broader impact is difficult to ignore. Access to knowledge has expanded dramatically. Learning resources that were once available only to a privileged few can now reach virtually anyone with a mobile device and an internet connection.

This brings us back to AI.

Like the technologies that preceded it, AI is generating both excitement and concern. Some fear it will weaken critical thinking. Others worry it will reduce the incentive to learn.

History does not guarantee a particular outcome. AI presents unique challenges that society will need to address thoughtfully.

However, history does provide perspective.

Again and again, transformative tools have been met with skepticism. Again and again, those tools have enabled people to learn faster, solve larger problems, and contribute in ways that would have been impossible for previous generations.

The lesson is not that every technological advance is automatically beneficial. Nor is it that expertise becomes unnecessary.

Rather, the lesson is that human progress has often occurred when expertise and technology advance together.

The challenge before us is therefore not simply to adopt AI. It is to use it wisely.

If we continue developing deep expertise while leveraging increasingly powerful tools, future generations may accomplish things that seem as extraordinary to us as lunar exploration would have appeared to the engineers who first picked up a slide rule.

History suggests that possibility is worth taking seriously.

This perspective also guides how ISPE is approaching AI. Our Body of Knowledge, built over decades by thousands of members generously sharing their expertise, remains a trusted foundation for the industry. We are working to make that knowledge more accessible, usable, and more impactful for practitioners through an AI-driven knowledge tool designed for the global life sciences community. This tool is currently being tested by beta users, and I previewed what is forthcoming at the 2026 ISPE AI in Life Sciences Summit.

Today, we are happy to share that ISPE Lumen is available to all ISPE members at ISPE.org/ISPE-Lumen

History suggests that new technologies do not diminish expertise; they amplify it. Our focus is to ensure AI does the same, not replacing human capability but strengthening it, so that knowledge can continue to grow and productivity can continue to rise across the life sciences industry.

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