Teachers should look at robots as allies
Chalk and talk is giving way to click and learn. Chalks have been replaced by Styluses, Blackboards have been replaced by smartboards, notebooks and textbooks have been replaced by smartphones and tablets, and traditional classrooms have been replaced by Google meets. Even evaluation of examinations is now done by AI in many institutions. This begs the question, will AI replace human teachers?
Recently in Hyderabad, Indus International School introduced Eagle, a humanoid robot that teaches students Physics, Biology, Chemistry, History, and Geography for classes 7 to 9. However, the fears about computers replacing teachers might be misplaced. If one perceives teaching as a simple dispensation of factual content, then one might think that teaching as a profession is at risk of automation. However, as any teacher worth their salt will tell you, teaching is much more than a simple regurgitation of facts.
The role of a teacher is manifold, including but not limited to, dispensing information, clearing doubts and providing guidance, being a parental and mentor figure, and being a source of inspiration. Teachers also work with parents in order to guide a child’s academic journey. The first two of the listed activities may be and, as Indus International School has demonstrated, already has been automated; but, the latter two activities cannot be pulled off by a robot. Inspiring and mentoring students require a human element that the robots simply cannot perform.
Robots can aid teachers
The introduction of robots may actually be beneficial to the teachers. Instead of replacing them, AI and robots may help teachers do their jobs better. According to McKinsey & Company, 20 percent to 40 percent of the teacher’s time is spent on non-teaching activities like taking attendance, assessing examinations, and other administrative jobs. The entry of robots into the teaching profession might mean that teachers can unload many of these tasks on robots that could perform them more proficiently than humans.
All over the world, countries are making moves to automate jobs where human resource is dispensable. China is one of the first countries to employ teaching robots on a large scale. A number of kindergartens in the country now use tiny robots called KeeKo that pose logical problems, tell stories, and more. Japan is automated to an extent that can pose a threat to its economy. Even South Korea intends to incorporate automation as much as possible within the country.
Can India afford to go the robotic way?
When it comes to India, however, the case might be different. The case in Hyderabad and Bengaluru can be considered more as an outlier than a norm. In a country where most of the population is rural, and most of that rural population lacks access to basic facilities like electricity, automation to such an extent is a distant pipedream.
Most Indian schools cannot afford to have such an advanced AI, which exacts a heavy price. Apart from the cost of maintenance and upkeep, the bots also require electricity and internet, both of which are scarce in the majority of the country. Apart from these infrastructural problems, the introduction of AI in classrooms also raises some ethical concerns. For instance, the privacy of data can be a huge problem when robots work in such close proximity to young children. There is always a risk of data falling into wrong hands and the subsequent misuse of such data. Another concern is that robots and algorithms are only as unbiased as their maker. If the algorithm within the AI is skewed or biased, it can dispense questionable data and assessments.
Keeping all of this in view, perhaps the more correct question to ask is ‘how robots can aid teachers in creating a better learning experience for students?’ AI is here to stay, but so, it seems, are teachers. Instead of perceiving AI as a threat, teachers should welcome this automation and view robots as their allies.
