Preparing for a brave new world - 17th December 2021

The world's most diminutive teaching assistants have assumed duties in classrooms across Seoul, South Korea. Measuring a mere 24.5 centimetres in height, the "Alpha Mini" robots are endowed with all manner of skills.

Beyond leading dancing and singalongs, reading stories and demonstrating Kung Fu moves and push-ups, the 4 and 5 year old children may be most fond of Alpha Mini's capacity to follow instructions. This includes executing children's breaktime requests for it to fart.

Jang Min-sung: "It's great fun."

Lee Ga-yoon: "When I tell it to sing, it sings well. I tell it to dance and we dance together. I can tell it to sit down on a chair I made."

Jang Min-sung: "I enjoy it watching it do kung-fu and singing."

Lee Ga-yoon: "Playing with the robot makes me happy."

The educational objective is all the more serious, involving preparing children to operate alongside AI as its presence grows, explains Han Dong-seog, a Seoul Metropolitan Government Childcare Division team leader.

Han Dong-seog: "In the future, knowing how to manage AI and related tools will be very important. We believe having such experience in nursery schools will have a lasting effect through their youth and as adults."

While the pilot scheme integrates Alpha Mini into the daily learning of students aged between 4 and 6 across 300 nurseries and childcare centres within Seoul, future intentions to expand its use include developing the capacity to engage with 3 year olds.

Yet teachers have no cause for alarm. These robots are envisaged as supplementary aids to teachers, not their replacements.

Han Dong-seog: "We don't think the robots will replace teachers, but they will assist them. After this year's pilot programme and as we continue the programme next year, we will definitely have to develop a manual regarding the robot's role and position."