The impact of A.I. on education – Can a robot get into The University of Tokyo?

Abstract

The “Todai Robot Project (Can a robot get into The University of Tokyo?)” was initiated by the National Institute of Informatics in 2011 as an AI grand challenge. The goal of the project was to create an AI system that answered real questions on university entrance examinations consisting of two parts, i.e., multiple-choice style national standardized tests and a written test that included short essays. The tasks naturally required the development of ground-breaking underlying technologies in research areas including natural language processing, image processing, speech recognition, automated theorem proving, computer algebra, and computer simulations. It simultaneously required interdisciplinary research synthesis.

Our software took a (digitalized and annotated version of) mock National Center Test for University Admissions (NCTUA), provided by a prep. school, with more than five thousand students. The results revealed that its abilities were still far below the average scores of entrants to The University of Tokyo. However, it was competent enough to pass the entrance exams of 404 out of 744 private universities in Japan. The rapid rise of new AI technologies may negatively affect the labor market in the short term, and we will need to re-design our education systems that were intended to be optimal for the modern industrial society.