Replacing Professors with AI and Robots

 B. VanDeventer | University of Tennessee, Knoxville | Social Informatics | INSC 542

This blog post features my thoughts on replacing professors with artificial intelligence and robots and how this could change the future of the classroom by making it more accessible and interactive, inspired by the article written by Allison Schrager and Amy X. Wang. 

The article summarizes the need for artificial intelligence in the classroom and how it could impact the way the classroom is run, giving more opportunities for the professor to create a more personalized experience for each student. 

There are many fears associated with up-and-coming technology. One specific fear is that technology will take over jobs and humans will be left without a place to work. This article discusses how, with artificial intelligence, there doesn’t need to be a fear of new technology taking over teaching jobs. With artificial intelligence (AI), professors will be able to do abundantly more than they used to because AI will take out the grunt work of answering the same questions over and over again, and get to doing what they love most: teaching. 

Incorporating AI into a classroom, as Ashok Goel did with Jill Watson, will increase participation and engagement, and eliminate the need to hire more teaching assistants or burn out the teaching assistants professors already have. Higher education, in general, can utilize AI to find students who are close to dropping out and take action before it’s too late for those students. Taking in loads of data, taking out bias, and using the data in a quick and efficient manner to find those students who are struggling. This not only cuts cost, but also cuts down on manual labor needed to sift through the data and interpret it (Schrager and Wang, 2017). While many fear that this type of quick AI technology will interfere with the job market, according to Bates, et al., “the processing capabilities of machines [are unable to match] the cognitive capabilities of humans” (2020). Humans are still needed for that face-to-face encounter that students pay for. It is most beneficial for those students who take online courses and know they are not going to get a lot of face-time with their professors.

While many are excited to start incorporating AI into their classrooms to help field questions and get students to interact more with the technology provided to them as a resource, many question the cost of such AI and if the cost outweighs the benefits. Professor Goel talks in his TedxTalk about the work that he and his team put in to create the AI, Jill Watson, and how they had to field questions to make sure she was answering correctly and not confusing students. This is just one example of the need for humans and how we cannot eliminate the human factor completely. And as with any job, to keep professors happy and from seeking out higher wages from another institution, universities must keep up with the increased cost of education and competitive salaries (Schrager and Wang, 2017). 

Technology has come a long way in just the past decade. Having the ability to cut down on manual labor, to receive quick results from a database, and the ability to still create a personalized learning experience without burn out are just some of the benefits artificial intelligence has provided. While it may be a little nerve-racking not being able to decipher if you are talking to an AI or an actual person, there is still some excitement in the technological abilities of the future. 

References

Bates, T., Cobo, C., Mariño, O., Wheeler, S. (2020, June 15). Can artificial intelligence transform higher education?  Retrieved July 14, 2022, from https://educationaltechnologyjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s41239-020-00218-x?fbclid=IwAR3ArzdKOtggZODBn7kQEkxSaoYJFxhM5VnZL4gQoHUn7X5aYudpqkaU0AA

Schrager, A., Wang, A. (2017, September). Imagine how great universities could be without all those human teachers. Retrieved July 14, 2022. 

TEDxTalks. (2016). A teaching assistant named Jill Watson | TEDxSanFrancisco. Youtube. Retrieved July 14, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbCguICyfTA.