Robots Replace Teachers?

BOOK REVIEW

ROBOTS REPLACING TEACHERS?

HOMO DEUS

A brief History of Tomorrow, by Yuval Noah Harari

Published by Vintage ,London, 2017

 

Review by Stephen Wilson

 

You cannot avoid the figure which suddenly looms up. For on the huge window of Dom Knigi in Sokol, Moscow you see his figure flanked by his works such as Homo Sapiens, Homo Deus and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. The huge photo is of the author Yuval Noah Harari  whose presence in Russia has become inconspicuous. His book boasts of being a bestseller that has sold a million copies. His main works can be bought in Russian.

 

Part of the attractive appeal of his works lie in the fact that he is not afraid to grapple with controversial as well as relevant issues which worry so many people. His work is written in a simplistic, straightforward and concise style which renders his work more accessible to a wider audience. Some academics might accuse of him of being 'populist' but he at least backs up his arguments with listed sources. His works are certainly not dull.

 

What is more controversial is his interpretation of how he perceives the nature of humanity and his questionable interpretation of ideas. People who have read him can be forgiven for believing that he is a prophet of dark times. He argues that we might be entering a new scientific and technological age where all the old religions and ideologies will soon be either irrelevant or obsolete. He argues that a new religion called 'Dataism' will emerge where the ability to derive and use data quickly will be the key to progress. Instead of humans deciding their own destiny algorithms will. Algorithms not cadres will decide matters! Since humans can't cope with an overwhelming avalanche of information, it is best to surrender this task to machines or computers which are more efficient in processing data and arriving at solutions to the world's problems. He argues - 'Dataism is most firmly entrenched in its two mother disciplines: computer science and biology.  Of the two, biology is the more important. It was biology's embrace of Dataism that turned a limited breakthrough in computer science into a world shattering cataclysm that may completely transform the very nature of life.'{page 499}

Harari views a person as being a bio-chemical organism who does not have that much control over his body. A person not only has little control over his body, but can't control the relentless advance of technology. In fact, Harari argues that machines can do things most humans do more effectively, efficiently and economically. Therefore machines will make most professions obsolete and we won't just face a perspective of mass unemployment, but many people will be unemployable! Their lives will be so expendable they'll be superfluous. Harari bases his claim on not only current trends, but some research. For instance, you read - 'Some economists predict that sooner or later unenhanced humans will be completely useless, robots and  3 D Printers are already replacing workers in manual jobs such as manufacturing shirts and highly intelligent algorithms will do the same to white collar occupations. Bank clerks and travel agents who a short time ago seemed completely secure from automation, have become an endangered species. How many travel agents do we need when we can use our smart phones to buy plane tickets from an algorithm?{pages 363-364}

'According to research by Frey and Osborne, 2013, titled 'The Future of unemployment', 47% of U.S. jobs are at risk and there is a high probability that sports referees, cashiers, chefs, tourist guides, bakers, bar tenders and security guards will lose their jobs. Doctors will also lose their jobs because new machines can offer a more accurate diagnosis than unreliable doctors.

 

Harari declares - 'We're not there yet but it is conceivable that in the not too distant future FMRI scanners could function as almost infallible truth machines. Where will that leave millions of lawyers, judges, cops and detectives? They might consider returning to school to learn a new profession.

When they enter the classroom, however, they may well discover that the algorithms have got there first'.{page 365}

Yes, you have already guessed, robots will also replace teachers! Harari mentions how companies such as Mindojo are developing interactive algorithms that will not only teach math, physics, and history, but study and treat students better. In a very telling phrase, Harari states, 'And these digital teachers will never lose their patience, never shout at me, and never go on strike'. {page 365}

It is clear that Harari is overawed by the advance of science and technology and overestimates its power. The role of a teacher is not simply to impart knowledge but to maintain an essentially human relationship with them, to act as a kind of role model and in school, to help bring them up. Olga Stefanova, a teacher based in Moscow stated, "A teacher in school doesn't just prepare children for exams but brings them up and instructs them to tell the difference between what is right and wrong". Many pupils don't want a digital robot, but someone who can fully respond to them in a way a robot can't. 

The problems which people are currently having in banks and supermarkets are that they can't arrange an appointment with a bank manager to remedy some error. When they phone up, they often get some mechanical reply which is next to useless. The advantage of  being driven by a taxi driver or meeting a shop assistant is that this can be a source of friendship in a community. A shop assistant or a bar tender does not just sell you things but can help strengthen bonds of unity in a community. They help some lonely people break away from isolation. What if the economist Adam Smith got it wrong when he presumed the butcher does not sell his meat out of benevolence?  It is not that far fetched to imagine a mainly benevolent butcher in some part of the world that cares more about his customers than merely making money from meat!

So Harari and others should ask, 'What exactly is the real function of many of those jobs?' A doctor does not just diagnose a patient but is there to talk, treat and console a patient. The question remains, 'What is more important: doing things more efficiently, effectively and economically or serving and strengthening the well being of a community by looking after the weakest members?' Despite those dark apocalyptic predictions of most people losing their jobs there will be always be some kind of work that needs to be done. Now some people might think some new jobs may be useless. They may argue this profession is no longer useful. But this begs the question 'What is the use of use?'

 

Harari is at his best when he attempts to deconstruct the claims of nationalism and hypocrisy of some religions. I liked it when he mentioned that when people embark on projects that are doomed to failure they refuse to look reality in the eye and continue to press on. For instance, he offers the example of how the financing of the new Scottish parliament rose from an estimated cost of 40 million pounds to 400 million pounds in five years. Rather than abandon this reckless investment from 1999, the government pressed on. He also speaks about the 'Our boys did not die in vain syndrome' which prevented an early peace settlement to the First World War. The Italians did not wish to admit that entering the war against Austria was a grave mistake and continued to fight on leading to more and more needless deaths. He warns - 'Not only governments fall into this trap. Business corporations often sink millions into failed enterprises, while private individuals cling to dysfunctional marriages and dead-end jobs. Our narrating self would much prefer to continue suffering in the future, so it won't have to admit that our past suffering was devoid of all meaning'.{page 353} 

Could we apply this analysis to the example of charter schools? Although I think this book expounds a questionable view of human nature as well as offering a determinism where technology is the main catalyst of history, it still makes compelling reading.  Despite finding the conclusions of this book depressing, it is full of intriguing facts and findings. But I truly hope robots will never replace teachers. God forbid such a dreadful scenario!