Technology Desk – AI robot teacher: The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is now increasing rapidly in the field of education too, but not every new technology is being accepted without questions. The plan to introduce AI-based humanoid robots for the education of students in a school district in New York state of America faced huge opposition. After continuous questions were raised, the school administration has stopped this project for the time being.
Salamanca City Central School District of New York had approved the purchase of an AI humanoid robot named “Sally” at a cost of about 60 thousand US dollars. It is a human-like stationary robot, whose arms and legs can move but it cannot walk.
The school administration said that this robot was to be used to give practical training in robotics, artificial intelligence and technology to the students. Its purpose was to give students experience in programming, hardware maintenance and understanding technical problems.
As soon as the information about this scheme came to light, parents, teachers and education officials raised many serious questions.
The biggest controversy was regarding the robot manufacturing company. Opponents said that the company has previously been involved in the business of manufacturing AI based adult robots, hence it cannot be considered appropriate to bring such a product to school.
Apart from this, concerns were also raised regarding the security of personal information of students. People feared that children’s data might be misused in the future.
The teachers’ organization also said that if such robots start coming into schools then the role of human teachers may be affected in future.
New York State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa also wrote to school administrators seeking clarification on data security, student privacy and the role of AI robots in the classroom. After this the pressure on this entire project increased further.
School Superintendent Mark Biehler made it clear that the purpose of this robot was not to replace any teacher. According to him, education is a process that happens only between humans and no machine can become a substitute for a teacher.
He said that the main objective of this project was to introduce students from remote areas to new technologies and prepare them for future careers.
Robot manufacturing company Realbotix said that the humanoid designed for the school has been developed solely for educational use. It is not to any other product.
The company claims that this robot does not collect personal information of students, does not make audio or video recordings and cannot search information independently on the internet. Only pre-verified educational material will be used in this.
In view of the increasing protests and questions raised, the school administration has currently stopped the plan of bringing AI robots into the classroom. Now further decision on this project will be taken only after discussion with all the parties and necessary investigation.
Experts believe that AI can become an important part of future education, but before implementing such technology in schools, it is important to have a clear policy on issues like data security, transparency, ethics and privacy of students. This is why this case from New York is sparking a new debate on AI based education across the world.
