World’s First Robot Teacher Launched in Japan

The fundamentals of education for children; namely, ABC, may not have changed, but primary school pupils in Japan will soon be part of a dynamic alteration in modern education as they are given lessons by the world's first robotic teacher.

According to news sources, Saya, the humanoid, is multilingual, can do roll calls and set tasks from textbooks. Her latex face, which was modeled after that of a university student, is controlled by 18 motors, which create a full range of expressions including happiness, surprise, fear, disgust, sadness and even anger. It took 15 years for science professor, Hiroshi Kobayashi, to create the robot, originally dubbed Pikarin, which had a metal head with exposed wires and levers. Saya will start teaching full-time after passing a trial term at a Tokyo primary primary school. Salary, tenure and other benefits have yet to be decided, but perhaps a special type of teachers’ union may well be in the works! Go figure. *Note: Photo is not of Saya, but of one of her android cousins since constructed in Korea.