< Return to Video

How China Is Using Artificial Intelligence in Classrooms | WSJ

  • 0:04 - 0:07
    Teachers at this primary school in China
  • 0:09 - 0:11
    know exactly when someone isn't paying attention.
  • 0:16 - 0:19
    These headbands measure each student's level of concentration.
  • 0:19 - 0:23
    The information is then directly sent to the teacher's computer and to parents.
  • 0:26 - 0:29
    China has big plans to become a global leader in artificial intelligence.
  • 0:31 - 0:33
    It has enabled a cashless economy,
  • 0:33 - 0:36
    where people make purchases with their faces.
  • 0:36 - 0:39
    A giant network of surveillance cameras with facial recognition
  • 0:39 - 0:42
    helps police monitor citizens.
  • 0:43 - 0:45
    Meanwhile, some schools offer glimpses
  • 0:45 - 0:49
    of what the future of high tech education in the country might look like.
  • 0:51 - 0:56
    Classrooms have robots that analyze students' health and engagement levels.
  • 0:57 - 1:00
    Students wear uniforms with chips that track their locations.
  • 1:01 - 1:03
    There are even surveillance cameras that monitor
  • 1:03 - 1:08
    how often students check their phones or yawn during classes.
  • 1:08 - 1:10
    These gadgets have alarmed Chinese netizens.
  • 1:15 - 1:19
    But, schools say it wasn't hard for them getting parental consent to enroll kids
  • 1:19 - 1:23
    into what is one of the worlds largest experiments in AI education.
  • 1:23 - 1:26
    A program that's supposed to boost students' grades
  • 1:26 - 1:29
    while also feeding powerful algorithms.
  • 1:36 - 1:39
    The government has poured billions of dollars into the project,
  • 1:40 - 1:43
    bringing together tech giants, start-ups and schools.
  • 1:45 - 1:50
    We got exclusive access to a primary school a few hours outside of Shanghai
  • 1:54 - 1:58
    to see firsthand how AI tech is being used in the classroom.
  • 2:00 - 2:01
    For this fifth grade class,
  • 2:01 - 2:05
    the day begins with putting on a brain wave sensing gadget.
  • 2:05 - 2:07
    Students then practice meditating.
  • 2:14 - 2:17
    The device is made in China and has three electrodes,
  • 2:17 - 2:20
    two behind the ears and one on the forehead.
  • 2:20 - 2:24
    These sensors pick up electrical signals sent by neurons in the brain.
  • 2:24 - 2:28
    The neural data is then sent in real time to the teacher's computer,
  • 2:28 - 2:31
    so while students are solving math problems,
  • 2:31 - 2:33
    a teacher can quickly find out who's paying attention
  • 2:33 - 2:34
    and who's not.
  • 2:38 - 2:42
    A report is then generated that shows how well the class was paying attention.
  • 2:42 - 2:47
    It even details each student's concentration level at 10 minute intervals.
  • 2:47 - 2:50
    It's then sent to a chat group for parents.
  • 2:55 - 2:56
    The reports are detailed,
  • 2:56 - 2:58
    but whether these devices really work
  • 2:58 - 3:01
    and what they exactly measure isn't as clear.
  • 3:04 - 3:08
    We were curious if the headbands could actually measure concentration.
  • 3:08 - 3:10
    So, one of our reporters tried on the device.
  • 3:16 - 3:21
    This is a new technology with, still, fairly little research behind it.
  • 3:21 - 3:23
    Theodore Zanto is a neural scientist
  • 3:23 - 3:26
    at the University of California San Francisco.
  • 3:26 - 3:28
    He was surprised to learn that this tech,
  • 3:28 - 3:32
    called electroencephalography, also known as EEG,
  • 3:32 - 3:35
    is being used in the classroom on children.
  • 3:35 - 3:38
    It's usually used by doctors in hospitals and labs.
  • 3:38 - 3:41
    EEG is very susceptible to artifacts
  • 3:41 - 3:45
    and so, if you are itchy or just a little fidgety
  • 3:45 - 3:47
    or the EEG wasn't setup properly,
  • 3:47 - 3:52
    so that the electrodes didn't have a good contact, effects the signal.
  • 3:52 - 3:55
    Despite the chances for false readings,
  • 3:55 - 3:59
    teachers told us the headbands have forced students to become more disciplined.
  • 4:07 - 4:10
    Teachers say the students now pay better attention during class
  • 4:10 - 4:14
    and that has made them study harder and achieve higher scores.
  • 4:21 - 4:23
    But, not all students are as enthusiastic.
  • 4:32 - 4:35
    This fifth grader, whom we caught dozing off in class,
  • 4:35 - 4:39
    told us his parents punish him for low attention scores
  • 4:39 - 4:43
    and that kind of data adds a new kind of pressure for students.
  • 4:53 - 4:55
    Companies we interviewed said
  • 4:55 - 4:58
    the data can go to government funded research projects.
  • 4:58 - 5:02
    We spoke to parents who were unclear about where the data ended up
  • 5:02 - 5:05
    and they didn't seem to care too much.
  • 5:05 - 5:09
    Zanto says, there's likely no privacy protection at all.
  • 5:09 - 5:13
    The classroom is you're trying to make an assessment of an individual student,
  • 5:13 - 5:14
    you really can't anatomize it.
  • 5:16 - 5:19
    Experts and citizens alike are sounding alarms
  • 5:19 - 5:23
    about various aspects of the country's huge push into artificial intelligence.
  • 5:25 - 5:28
    These classrooms are laboratories for future generations
  • 5:28 - 5:31
    and while these new tools may potentially help
  • 5:31 - 5:34
    some two hundred million students raise their grades,
  • 5:34 - 5:37
    just how this all works out won't be apparent
  • 5:37 - 5:39
    until they become adult citizens.
Title:
How China Is Using Artificial Intelligence in Classrooms | WSJ
Description:

more » « less
Video Language:
English
Duration:
05:44

English subtitles

Revisions