In the scale of education-related jobs, that of substitute teacher probably ranks the lowest. According to one article, while there are certain advantages in terms of flexibility of scheduling and job choices, substitute teaching also offers significantly less pay than for regular teachers, an inconsistent group of coworkers, no benefits, unpredictability, and especially, problematic is the issue that many students may feel as though they don’t have to listen to a substitute or follow through with the day’s instructions, rules, and procedures.
But don’t tell any of this to the students in a Japanese fifth grade classroom, who were treated recently to a rare surprise: a visit by a humanoid robot substitute teacher. Saya, a life-like female robot was designed originally in 2004 as a robot receptionist by Professor Hiroshi Kobayashi of Tokyo University of Science, but more recently was re-programmed to teach.
Kobayashi has told Reuters, “we are not looking at making something that will take over from teachers, but rather our main reason for building this robot is to use new technology to teach children about technology.” But Saya may be able to help in schools where there is a shortage of teachers, he added. The humanoid can speak different languages and is capable of a range of facial expressions and emotions — surprise, fear, disgust, anger, happiness, sadness — since it’s controlled by various motors and wiring around the eyes and the mouth.
The introduction of a humanoid robot substitute teacher into a classroom setting signifies the seriousness with which Japan is pursuing the goal of becoming a ‘robot nation’ with a full cadre of machines to service it’s growing elderly population, as well as care for its youth. The country’s humanoid population continues to develop at lightning pace and to set new global technological standards. During the past two months Zygbotics has reported on a series of fascinating robotic innovations coming out of Japan: the HRP-4C girl robot, plans for introducing robotic nurses in five years, a mind-reading humanoid, and a child humanoid that mimics infant behavior. What is distinctive about the Saya robot, however, is that it suggests a new and emerging paradigm in the future of human-robot interaction (HRI): the possibility of employing robots as normative contributors and occupiers within a fully functioning civic society. Aside from Japan, the trend towards experimenting with integrating humanoids into society is also occurring in other countries such as South Korea, China, Germany, and Italy, to name a few, and suggests a trend in which humanoid robots will eventually provide important measures for testing the boundaries of social attitudes, stereotypes, and views on diversity. Humanoid robots are steadily becoming more autonomous, intelligent, and interactive with verbal, nonverbal and emotional communicability. Correspondingly, it is critical that sociologists, educators, psychologists, and other specialists seriously begin to consider the socio-cultural and educational implications that humanoid robots will have on societies of the future. If Saya is any indication then humanoids will not only become significant stakeholders in the global civil societies of the future, but in all likelihood will even become intelligent and autonomous enough to teach the children of tomorrow. Robots teaching children how to build robots—a scenario that may well prove ‘singularity’ at its most profound level.
Tags: future of robotics, human robot interaction, humanoid robotics, Japanese robots, Saya
