Merely days ago, Norway took a stern step against the use of artificial intelligence by imposing a near-ban on generative AI tools for elementary school pupils. In an effort to give teachers back more power in the classroom, the use of gen-AI in the education of older students was also restricted amid a broad decline in education test scores. Instead of pulling a page from Norway’s book, a school in the United States has opted for the exact opposite direction, potentially making way for a kind of dystopian society we once thought only resided in fiction books.
US school officials hail AI robots as ‘teaching partners’
A charter chain, Altus School in San Diego, USA, spent a total of $500,000 on two ChatGPT-powered humanoid robots, potentially setting the foundation for a classroom that might replace human teachers with physical AI as teaching partners in the future.
Altus has long served as a pseudo-alternative school, which helps fast-track classes for students who have fallen behind. Local reports from San Diego further indicate that a major faction of students at the school chain hail from low-income households, are homeless, or have disabilities.
School officials at Altus Schools are hailing the half-million-dollar investment into Ameca, a 6-ft-2 robot with a gray silicone face, as the “world’s most advanced AI-powered robot,” according to the local journalism platform called Voice of San Diego. On the other hand, experts can’t help but raise questions about the unprecedented introduction.
In an email shared with families of Altus children, the school’s dean of academic studies, Cathryn Rambo, touted the purchase and described it as an “innovative opportunity for your students to participate in a research-based learning experience.”
“We are thrilled to be the first school in the world researching the use of physical AI as a teaching partner,” Rambo added in the note.
“This is a long-term investment,” added Jay Garrity, Altus’ head of instructional services. “We’re still at the beginning phases, but we are optimistic in terms of the prospects it might bring to teaching and learning in the future.”
According to the letter sent to parents, the school chain already started introducing Ameca to students in January. The humanoid robots are expected to be onsite until Fall 2026.
AI robot ‘teachers’ hit with backlash
Ameca can tap into four different personas while interacting with students one-on-one. These include Safe the Teacher, Remi the Wellness Coach, Ari the College and Career Planner and Lexi the Translator, as highlighted in the email sent to parents.
The wellness coach role was possibly hit with the harshest backlash, according to the California Post.
Wayne Holmes, a professor of critical studies of AI and education at University College London, told the Voice of San Diego, “There is no independent evidence at scale that the use of these tools is either effective or safe, or even have a positive impact on the classroom. What we are increasingly hearing are bits of evidence that demonstrate the opposite.”
The professor also stressed, “The suggestion that this could ever be within a million miles of the capabilities of a human teacher is criminal. For this to be peddled as something that can teach English language arts, that can teach vocabulary, that can engage with education in these ways, it’s utter nonsense. It’s a parody of education.”
Even more perturbed by the image of seeing a humanoid robot taking the place of a teacher in a classroom, Monash University Professor Neil Selwyn said, “The physical robot in the room is just complete bullsh*t – a show, a charade, a spectacle,” as quoted by the Voice of San Diego. “The distraction of the humanoid robot is mad in this particular case, because we haven’t got physical robots that can be anywhere near as sentient as a teacher… So much can go wrong.”
Similarly, Sherry Turkle, a professor of the social studies of science and technology at MIT, believes that such a massive investment into physical AI was possibly the worst use of limited funds.
Turkle said, “Generative AI is a marvel,” as quoted by the Voice of San Diego. “But the fact that it’s a marvel means that we’ve gotten into a kind of delirium with it. It’s not hallucinating, we are, by imagining it’s going to solve problems that it can’t possibly solve. And that is about to do a lot of damage.”
What do numbers say?
Last year, a University of Southern California report revealed that even college students were, in a way, employing AI tools like ChatGPT as a shortcut to get quick answers instead of learning concepts. The survey involving 1,000 US college students showed there were also students using AI thoughtfully to engage with the tech in a learning-oriented way, but only after they received encouragement from their professors.
“This suggests that faculty guidance plays a critical role in shaping how students approach AI — not just as a tool for convenience, but as a resource for intellectual growth,” USC stated.
At the same time, a companion survey of over 1,000 teachers from the US, India, Qatar, Colombia and the Philippines lifted the lid on widespread concerns about plagiarism, diminished creativity and inconsistent institutional support, according to the USC report.
Nonetheless, the majority of educators still viewed AI in the classroom positively, with 72% saying it helps streamline routine tasks, 73% believing it can improve student outcomes and 69% asserting that it enables more personalised learning.
Around the same time, “Schools’ Embrace of AI Connected to Increased Risks,” a report released by the nonprofit Center for Democracy and Technology, found that 85% of teachers and 86% of students used AI in the 2024-25 school year.
The rising use of AI in K-12 classrooms signalled potentially negative effects on students, with one consequence being that it hurts the young ones’ ability to develop meaningful relationships with teachers, as per the report.
The findings also indicated that half of the students even agreed that using the advanced tech in class makes them feel less connected to their teachers. 47% of teachers and 50% of parents fear that AI use is prompting a decrease in peer-to-peer connections.
Moreover, the report showed that 70% of teachers are concerned about AI weakening critical thinking and research skills.
“As many hype up the possibilities for AI to transform education, we cannot let the negative impact on students get lost in the shuffle,” said Elizabeth Laird, director of the equity in civic technology project at the Center for Democracy and Technology, in a press release.
“Our research shows AI use in schools comes with real risks, like large-scale data breaches, tech-fueled sexual harassment and bullying, and treating students unfairly,” Laird said. “Acknowledging those risks enables education leaders, policymakers, and communities to mount prevention and response efforts so that the positive uses of AI are not overshadowed by harm to students.”
While Norway is navigating its way around AI by limiting its use among school children, the US school example goes to show that some are even considering introducing physical AI into classrooms. Amid such disparate ideologies, China has also chosen to walk its own walk, as it formally announced its plan to integrate AI across all levels of schooling this week, as the Asian country and the US remain entangled in a race to dominate advanced technologies.