Will Computers Replace Human Teachers?

In the early 90s, I instructed an 8-hour, hands-on class called Introduction to Microcomputers and MS-DOS. More than 100 times I said, “A computer is a device which can perform computations including arithmetic and logic operations, in a predetermined sequence without human intervention. …. Can computers think? No, a computers follows a predetermined sequence of instructions or a program….” We’d talk about computers lacking the quality of human compassion, and I’d tell students that I didn’t think that computers would ever replace human teachers in education.

Today, I’d say pretty much the same thing. I don’t believe that computers think , even though I accept that in a couple of years their computing power will surpass that of the human brain . Computers lack consciousness, free will, intuition, conscience. I don’t feel threatened by computers in education. How could a computer ever replace a caring teacher? Teacher’s kindness and encouragement can do so much toward motivating students to learn, to think, to stretch their minds. Put a teacher and motivated students together and there is a synergy with the potential for incredible new ideas to be generated that no machine could possibly match.

“The question of whether computers can think is like the question of whether submarines can swim.” Edsger W. Dijkstra

“Computers can prepare students for tests, but teachers prepare learners for life” - unknown