Could robots replace our professors?

During a talk at the British Science Festival, Sir Anthony Seldon, a leading university Vice Chancellor, predicted that teachers will be replaced by intelligent machines within the next ten years. Sir Seldon, of the University of Buckingham and former master of Wellington College, believes the change will radically transform the education system. On being asked whether he is suggesting that academics are not safe from automation, the VC responded: “I am desperately sad about this but I’m afraid I am.”

Automation, of course, isn’t a particularly new concept – AI replacing human labour has long been the theme of science fiction, and an increasing number of professionals are finding themselves under that threat each year. The discussion on computers taking the place of academics, however, has only just begun.

Students and professors alike use technology in almost all aspects of university life.

It bears mentioning, first of all, that Sir Seldon predicts a gradual change: AI has already begun to make an impact on education, which will become more and more apparent over time. Administrative jobs have been made easier with the help of intelligent computers – checking attendance, assessment, marking, class presentations, homework; students and professors alike use technology in almost all aspects of university life. But what Seldon suggests is something far more radical. “Everyone can have the very best teacher and it’s completely personalised; the software you’re working with will be with you throughout your education journey”. The VC paints an optimistic picture of the future: computers as teachers, in his view, would adapt to the student better than any human teacher ever could.

Having a machine know exactly how to deal with the specific needs of the individual being taught would imply advancements in both the number of students a university is able to take on and the efficiency with which these students are assessed. Indeed, online courses and distance learning have skyrocketed in popularity in the last years. The main appeal is simple convenience: the ability to attain the same level of education from the comfort of one’s own home, at one’s own pace.

Web-based courses have the flexibility to accommodate individual needs.

The democratising nature of e-learning is an undeniable plus. Online courses are often free, and thus open to those from all socio-economic backgrounds. Furthermore, they offer a solution for those with disabilities that are unable to attend actual lessons. Web-based courses have the flexibility to accommodate individual needs.

But Seldon’s prediction is not of an increase in online courses. He does not suggest that academic institutions will become redundant, but rather that they’ll remain as a base wherein students will be taught by artificial intelligence. “You’ll still have the humans there walking around… but in fact the inspiration in terms of intellectual excitement will come from the lighting-up of the brain which the machines will be superbly well-geared for”. With ‘inspirational’ machines and no lack of human contact, there seems to be very little reason to be alarmed at the notion of automation in teaching. That is especially since Seldon mentions that teachers would not be entirely replaced: they would still be needed to “operate” the machines.

There is far more to teaching– especially in higher education– than relaying information to a class of students.

Jonathan Skinner, first year Director of Undergraduate Studies at Warwick University’s English department, elaborated on the point, stating that “the bureaucratisation of education means that to be a professor is basically to be a bureaucrat… there’s no doubts that machines will replace a lot of roles in society.” Nonetheless Skinner asserted that, in the end, “interaction with a real life human being… is far more precious.”

Indeed, there is an inherent value in empathy that we must not write off. Of course, it would be unwise to underestimate the power of technological advancement or doubt its power to adapt to the learner, but there is far more to teaching – especially in higher education – than relaying information to a class of students. Skinner belives that “The interaction not just with tutors but with all kinds of bodies (classmates, peers, staff, and even books) constitutes an irreplaceable part of education.”

Projecting a future where AI will take over human interaction shows our anxiety about the unpredictability of human relations.

I, for one, relied heavily on the support and insight of experienced professionals in my first year of university. The human connection that reassured me during one of the most dramatic environment changes of my life, studying abroad, could not have been replaced by AI.

There are also other concerns. Vivien Kogut, a lecturer and tutor of Modern Languages at the University of Cambridge, remarked: “Seldon’s statements betray a view of education as geared entirely towards results and measurable achievement… but true education implies a process which is not finite.

Learning involves a level of unpredictability and uniqueness that are part of human interaction and which pave the way for true insight. Ultimately, I think that projecting a future where AI will take over human interaction shows our anxiety about the unpredictability and emotional intensity of human relations. It projects an illusion of total control. Eliminating human interaction from our classrooms will not generate more knowledge or intellectual brilliance, bur rather impoverish the whole learning experience.”

My experience as a student has been made remarkable by the different teachers I have had.

There’s no lack of convincing arguments for the benefits of being taught by a computer with the ability to adapt to both one’s shortcomings and skills and which will, in the words of the Vice Chancellor, “know what it is that most excites you.” On the other hand, teachers have a power that these personalised machines never could: the power to infect students with their enthusiasm for a subject. I can confidently say that my experience as a student has been made remarkable by the different teachers I have had, and the passion that they have been able to share with their students.

The level to which we depend on technology in the education system is undeniable, but that is not to say the possibility of total automation shouldn’t concern us. If even a little bit, it does.