The purpose of Tech: at the school of Blaise Pascal

Synopsis How far will Artificial Intelligence, with its seemingly limitless geometric mind, go? What will be left of our freedom to make decisions in the face of these probabilistic machines with their astounding predictions? Is the adventure of the century nothing more than monstrous entertainment? Or can it be sensible? At a time when chatGPT and generative Artificial Intelligence, promoted by powerful engineer-entrepreneurs, are flooding into our lives, we are celebrating the quadricentenary of one of history's most complete geniuses: Blaise Pascal. A great philosopher. A passionate engineer. Mathematical genius. Inventor of probability. Inventor of the first mental machine. The absolute ancestor of Artificial Intelligence!
A happy historical coincidence or a sign of hope. And what if he wasn't actually in the best position to help us identify the raison d'être of artificial intelligence... that universal question that has become crucial for the future of employment, businesses and all humanity?
This essay attempts to explore some of the answers. And even further, it explores a little-known facet of the genius of the Grand Siècle. Pascal was also a serial entrepreneur. His edifying adventure, and the story of his ups and downs, offer an astonishing parallel with the day-to-day life of today's technology start-ups. From the pitfalls of youth to the fortunes of maturity, via the quest for meaning in troubled times. Modern artificial intelligence is first and foremost a huge entrepreneurial adventure, made up of daring gambles with an almost Pascalian rhetoric: "let's brave uncertainty by betting on the infinite possibilities of algorithms, and let's win over the indifferent".
The itinerary of the genius of the Grand Siècle offers us treasures of wisdom from which to draw inspiration for the technological adventure of the 21st century. A call to undertake in uncertain times. Common sense at the heart of the true mathematics of uncertainty. A measured approach to the virtues and limitations of algorithms and the incompleteness of reason. The art of training the will to decide. How to use numerical reason without enslaving yourself. Avoiding the pitfalls of an algorithmic ethic of mere conformity. The sensible pursuit of fortune to relieve the distress of our contemporaries. The probable foundations of a technological raison d'être. The art of developing sensible businesses. And of a sensible quest for fortune, to help our contemporaries distress.

Etienne de Rocquigny live in Paris. Is a mathematician and entrepreneur, Professor Habilité à Diriger les Recherches and former Vice-Dean of Research at École Centrale Paris. An expert with the French National Research Agency and the European Commission, he teaches at the HEC Entrepreneurs Master's programme and at the Centre Sèvres. Founder of Blaise Pascal Advisors (Putting tech back to work for strategy and meaning), a company specialising in artificial intelligence, ethics and technology start-ups. Chairman of the think-tank Espérance & Algorithmes, a movement of entrepreneurs, investors, scientists, philosophers and theologians working to put AI at the service of the common good.