<\/p>\n
Students in Miami, Florida, respond to questions about nutrition from NUTRO, described as the “Worlds First Nutrition-Teaching Robot,” in May 1980.<\/p>\n
Bettmann\/Bettmann Archive \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
Did you know that AI robots in the classroom transform traditional learning into dynamic, personalized and interactive experiences? That they act as tireless co-teachers that provide real-time feedback, adapt to each student’s unique learning pace and offer a non-intimidating environment for diverse learners and shy students?<\/p>\n
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We didn\u2019t know that either, until we asked Google\u2019s artificial intelligence chatbot\u00a0about the benefits of robots in the classroom and got that sales pitch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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We asked the\u00a0question in response to a now-shelved plan by the Salamanca City School District, in Cattaraugus County south of Buffalo, to introduce \u201cSally,\u201d a $57,590 humanoid robot, into classrooms this fall. The district planned to deploy it as a teacher’s aide for a small group of students in its STEAM classes \u2013 that\u2019s science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics. The robot would come installed with a district-approved curriculum and strategies intended to foster critical thinking and instructional guidance.<\/p>\n
Oh, and there\u2019s a side note: The robot\u00a0vendor\u2019s parent company also owns a business that makes\u00a0realistic, AI-powered sex dolls.<\/p>\n
After hearing concerns from the community, teachers\u00a0(and their union) as well as\u00a0the state Education Department, the district put the plan on hold.<\/p>\n
Artificial intelligence seems like a juggernaut barreling its way into our world even as we try to grasp its wide-ranging implications for energy, employment (and unemployment), national security, economics and more \u2014 including education.<\/p>\n
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To be fair, we\u2019ll note that Google\u2019s AI also provided us, when prompted, with a pretty accurate and rather lengthy list of the concerns about robots in school: the safeguarding of student data; the threat to human teachers and to the real, caring relationships they can provide; the blurring and possible expansion of the robot\u2019s role to mimic that of professional educators; the unknown risks to children\u2019s development and mental health.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We\u2019d add another concern that anyone who has used AI can readily appreciate: its unreliability. Artificial intelligence can do a lot, but it also gets things wrong, gives contradictory answers to the same question, and even make things up \u2014 known as \u201challucinating\u201d \u2014 and not even \u201cknow\u201d it.<\/p>\n
Teachers can make mistakes, too, of course. But it would be dangerous to assume that AI robots come with some assurance of factual infallibility.<\/p>\n
Teachers can also think on their feet and navigate many of the nuances of dealing with children, the questions they ask, the issues they bring from home, and the complexities of interpersonal relationships in a class and school environment. No matter how much they may mimic it, robots don\u2019t come with human capacity for empathy, compassion, judgment and adaptability. How are children \u2014 who often form a bond with their teachers \u2014 to process a relationship with a human-looking mentor with no feeling?\u00a0<\/p>\n
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So it\u2019s quite right that the Salamanca district has put this plan on hold. This is a matter that not only the district but the Education Department, the state Board of Regents and the Legislature need to study much more closely \u2014 and it underscores that the AI transformation of education isn\u2019t at some point on the horizon; it\u2019s already here.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why the state must accelerate its development of statewide policies for how AI can be used in schools.<\/p>\n
How and when should it be used as a teaching tool, and for which students? How will student data be protected? How and when can students use it to help figure out their math homework\u00a0or\u00a0complete an essay assignment? How about teaching students AI literacy, and encouraging them to think about the ethical implications that chatbots, design programs and other tools present for human creativity, emotional\/psychological well-being, workforce impact and more?<\/p>\n
To repeat: School\u00a0districts are already answering these questions, on their own, because they have to. But the stakes are too high for the state to show up late for this one.<\/p>\n
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The Education Department\u00a0says such guidelines are already under development. That\u2019s great; we hope they\u2019re being crafted in consultation with technology experts, educators, child psychologists, parents and students. There should be an ethicist in the mix, too. Maybe even a science fiction writer.\u00a0And if the Legislature needs to get involved to set rules, lawmakers should make that a priority.<\/p>\n
This is not just about introducing a piece of technology into a classroom. It\u2019s about getting students ready for a rapidly changing world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Students in Miami, Florida, respond to questions about nutrition from NUTRO, described as the “Worlds First Nutrition-Teaching Robot,”…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":127133,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[24,25,827,23292],"class_list":["post-127132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ai","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-editorial","tag-opiniontu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127132\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}