Technical sciences and society

The aim of this course is to 1. show that technology is at the heart of a conflict of power between the desire for control on the part of rulers and the hijacking of control by populations. 2. define the notion of technical system (theory of Bertrand Gille, Thierry Gaudin), and identify the technical and scientific events that destabilize societies. Structuring of time, representation of space, emergence of new materials, new sources of energy, new relationships with living organisms. 3. resituate the notion of artificial intelligence in history and in relation to the great mythical figures (Pygmalion, Golem, Automata, Frankenstein, etc.). 4. revisit the concept of progress in the light of new technologies and their social and cultural implications (philosophical, religious, economic, etc.).