BLS2033 ACADEMIC READING
Reading Text 9
Robot teachers
If you think of the job’s robots could never do, you would probably put doctors and teachers
at the top of the list. It’s easy to imagine robot cleaners and factory workers, but some jobs need
human connection and creativity. But are we underestimating what robots can do? In some cases,
they already perform better than doctors at diagnosing illness. Also, some patients might feel more
comfortable sharing personal information with a machine than a person. Could there be a place for
robots in education after all?
British education expert Anthony Seldon thinks so. And he even has a date for the robot
takeover of the classroom: 2027. He predicts robots will do the main job of transferring information
and teachers will be like assistants. Intelligent robots will read students’ faces, movements and
maybe even brain signals. Then they will adapt the information to each student. It’s not a popular
opinion and its unlikely robots will ever have empathy and the ability to really connect with humans
like another human can.
One thing is certain, though. A robot teacher is better than no teacher at all. In some parts of
the world, there aren’t enough teachers and 9–16 per cent of children under the age of 14 don’t go
to school. That problem could be partly solved by robots because they can teach anywhere and
won’t get stressed, or tired, or move somewhere for an easier, higher-paid job.
Those negative aspects of teaching are something everyone agrees on. Teachers all over the
world are leaving because it is a difficult job and they feel overworked. Perhaps the question is not
‘Will robots replace teachers?’ but ‘How can robots help teachers?’ Office workers can use software
to do things like organise and answer emails, arrange meetings and update calendars. Teachers
waste a lot of time doing non-teaching work, including more than 11 hours a week marking
homework. If robots could cut the time teachers spend marking homework and writing reports,
teachers would have more time and energy for the parts of the job humans do best.
Task 1
Match the definitions (a–f) with the vocabulary (1–6).
Vocabulary Definition
1. (d) a takeover a. the ability to think of new ideas
2. (e b. to think something is less than it is
) to adapt c. to work out what kind of illness someone has
3. (b) to underestimate d. when someone takes control of something,
4. (f) empathy like a job or a
5. (c) to diagnose place
6. (a) creative e. to change something so that it fits better
f. the ability to deeply understand someone’s
situation or
feelings
BLS2033 ACADEMIC READING
Task 2
Are the sentences true or false?
1. Most jobs seem as if they can be done by robots or computers. (false)
2. Robots are always better at diagnosing illness than doctors. (false)
3. Many experts agree robots will replace teachers by 2027. (false)
4. One advantage of robot teachers is that they don’t need to rest. (true)
5. Robot assistants could help teachers by marking homework. (true)
6. Some teachers use robots to reduce their time answering emails and marking homework. (false)
Task 3
Choose the best answer.
1. It’s easy to think robots …
a. will replace people even if we don’t like the idea.
b. is more capable than people and it’s true.
c. can do less than people but it’s not always true. - true
2. Anthony Seldon thinks teachers in the future will …
a. help robots in class. - true
b. teach knowledge to students.
c. no longer exists.
3. Robots will probably never …
a. has human understanding of emotions. - true
b. be a popular choice for teachers.
c. be intelligent enough to work in education.
4. Some parts of the world …
a. pays robots to teach.
b. already uses robots in teaching jobs.
c. has a shortage of teachers. - true
BLS2033 ACADEMIC READING
5. Teachers …
a. work harder than office workers.
b. have less help than office workers. - true
c. leave their jobs to become office workers.
6. Robots could …
a. empathise with students.
b. mark homework. - true
c. prepare lessons.
Task 4
Discussion
Would you like to have a robot as a teacher?
No because robots lack emotion and the most important relationship between teacher and student
is mutual respect. Without this the learning session will become difficult and sometime it will be
boring because there will be no interaction or humour shared between teacher and student.
Moreover, robot teachers would definitely have fixed answers to every questions, the one that
human implemented on them, and there will be no chance for critical thinking and thinking outside
the box situation.
