Review of SHOULD ROBOTS REPLACE TEACHERS
The question isn’t can, but should
I sit at the intersection of two possible futures of education. On the one hand, I work in education technology, commonly referred to as “edtech”, but on the other hand, I work in real classrooms teaching university students “live”. On one hand, I am a fervent believer in the classical liberal arts educational ideal. On the other hand, I know that this is just not practical for many.
The role of edtech in education is a fascinating one, and my curiosity and desire to learn more about it as someone who uses little tech in my own teaching practice is largely what led me to where I currently am professionally. But as edtech, and particularly AI (artificial intelligence) becomes increasingly integrated into education, I am one who proceeds with caution and healthy dose skepticism.
Why is that? As Neil Selwyn explains in his book, Should Robots Replace Teachers? AI and the Future of Education, few working in the space of edtech actually stop to ask whether we should be automating education, particularly teaching, and instead proceed hyperbolically ahead with whether we can (to which of course the answer is largely, “yes”.)
But Selwyn articulates two possible futures of AI-driven education that I thought were spectacularly spot on. The first is what many working in the space will claim to advocate for. What many perhaps even intend for their tech creations to do as they “disrupt” education.
This first future is AI-assisted education in which bots, software, and other techno-solutions reduce the burden of administrative, non-teaching tasks from teachers thereby allowing them to fully engage in their craft. While this seems positive, I see it as a way to further exploit teachers and jack up their teaching load (which I see in practice in the online education space).
The second possible future – which is sad – is that teaching becomes de-professionalized as AI technology takes over fundamental tasks, leaving teaching merely as a role for a warm body to occupy and triage the gaps that AI has yet to fill. An analogy of what this looks like is factory work. A century ago, factory workers were highly trained and skilled professionals. Today, they are entry level roles in which humans fill the gaps of technology in highly repetitive tasks.
One way to peer into the possible futures is by looking at AI and robots within Japanese culture. As a society intensely focused on societal integration of AI amid massive demographic shifts and ethnocentrism, we may get an early view of which future path we’re likely on, and the impacts of AI-driven education on learning and developmental outcomes for children and adult learners.
Should Robots Replace Teachers? is an excellent (what I call) pocket book – it’s tiny in size and spans only 132 tiny pages, making it an ideal one day dive into a complex and important question. Highly recommend for anyone working in the edtech or education spaces.
Published: November 2019
Format: Paperback
If you think this sounds interesting, bookmark these other great reads:
Teaching Machines: The History of Personalized Learning by Audrey Waters (2021)
Failure to Disrupt: Why Technology Alone Can’t Transform Education by Justin Reich (2020)
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