The Algorithmic Classroom: Artificial Intelligence, Educational Equity, and Critical Thinking in the Teaching-Learning Process in Ecuador

Abstract

This article critically examines the incorporation of artificial intelligence (AI) into the teaching-learning process in Ecuador, a phenomenon frequently presented as inherently emancipatory without sufficient scrutiny. Through a systematic documentary review of 30 academic sources (2020-2026, complemented by a small subset of foundational theoretical references published since the year 2000) indexed in Scopus, Redalyc, SciELO, Dialnet, and Latindex, three dimensions are analyzed: the actual adoption of AI tools in Ecuadorian classrooms, persistent access and infrastructure gaps, and the risks of a new algorithmic dependency on knowledge produced outside the region. Results show growing but unequal adoption, concentrated in urban areas and among teachers with greater prior digital capital, while ethical and pedagogical training gaps persist. The article concludes that educational AI in Ecuador requires a framework of critical appropriation -not uncritical adoption- combining algorithmic literacy, connectivity policy, and a pedagogy that preserves the centrality of students' own thinking against the automation of knowledge.