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Digital Futures Series
Milton Mueller, Will the Internet Fragment?
Neil Selwyn, Is Technology Good for Education?
Neil Selwyn, Should Robots Replace Teachers?
Axel Bruns, Are Filter Bubbles Real?
Should Robots Replace Teachers?
AI and the Future of Education
NEIL SELWYN
polity
Copyright © Neil Selwyn 2019
The right of Neil Selwyn to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published in 2019 by Polity Press
Polity Press
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All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.
ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-2898-1
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Selwyn, Neil, author.
Title: Should robots replace teachers? : AI and the future of education / Neil Selwyn.
Description: Cambridge, UK : Medford, MA, USA : Polity Press, [2019] | Series: Digital futures | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019001774 (print) | LCCN 2019011944 (ebook) | ISBN 9781509528981 (Epub) | ISBN 9781509528950 | ISBN 9781509528967 (pb)
Subjects: LCSH: Artificial intelligence--Educational applications. | Intelligent tutoring systems.
Classification: LCC LB1028.43 (ebook) | LCC LB1028.43 .S45 2019 (print) | DDC 371.33--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019001774
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PREFACE
The digital automation of teaching is set to be one of the defining educational challenges of the next twenty years. While the deployment of human-looking robots in classrooms remains more of a publicity stunt than a serious educational trend, many other forms of digital automation are being implemented across schools and universities around the world. Teachers are not being replaced by physical robots per se, but are increasingly surrounded by software, apps, platforms and other forms of artificial intelligence designed to carry out pedagogical tasks.
Most teachers remain confident that they are unlikely to be pushed aside by ‘intelligent systems’ any time soon. Nevertheless, teachers at all levels of education already face the prospect of working alongside these technologies. Thus, it is certainly worth exploring the extent to which human teachers might be displaced by machines in the near future. What aspects of teaching might it soon no longer make sense for humans to perform? Can automated systems free teachers up to work in different and more rewarding ways? Alternatively, will the humans who remain employed in education settings be compelled to work in an increasingly machine-like manner?
These are no longer frivolous or far-fetched questions. Powerful technologies are now being designed to autonomously support various types of learning – from infants picking up their first words through to physicians honing their surgical skills. A billion-dollar ‘EdTech’ market continues to grow as investors, developers and self-styled ‘edu-preneurs’ strive to overturn traditional modes of education, while also making tidy profits. The matter of how people learn (and, it follows, how people are supported in their learning) continues to be an area that is widely considered ready for innovation, reform and ‘disruption’. The long-held professional status of school teachers and university lecturers is definitely under threat.
Amidst this hyperbole, it is important to remain level-headed and think carefully about the likely implications and broader consequences of such developments. There is little point in writing a book that simply celebrates the different forms of automated teaching that now exist. Instead these are technologies that need to be challenged and problematized. Yet critiquing the impending automation of education is no easy task, not least because discussions of the future are inherently speculative in nature. In many ways, then, this book is concerned ultimately with what we want from education in the near future – the values that we feel should be associated with children and young people’s learning, the purposes that we want to ascribe to higher education, and the priorities that lie behind vocational training. These are definitely not straightforward technical issues. As such, our discussions need to engage with the politics of digital automation as much as with matters of design and efficiency.
These bigger-picture concerns are reflected in the choice of book title. The book might have been titled Can Robots Replace Teachers? However, it does not take long