Fujitsu plans to build some robots intelligent enough to enter Japan’s top university with straight A grades. In such a context, human students might be in real danger.
Fujitsu and Japan’s National Institute of Informatics are believed to have already started the work on the smart robot. Fujitsu has also set a deadline for this project. Their robot should get high marks on the Tokyo University entry exam by 2021. It should be noted that Tokyo University is not only Japan’s top educational institution, but also one of the highest-ranked schools in the world. As a consequence, the entrance exam to this university is a famously tough one. Since Fujitsu has such a great goal in mind, I hope these robots will be designed to help humans, not to replace them.
In order to pass the Tokyo University entrance exam, the robot should be able to perform word, number and equation analysis. Hidenao Iwane from Fujitsu Laboratories declared: “It has to analyse the exam questions and convert formulations and equations to a form that it can process before solving it through computer algebra.” In the meantime, the robot developed by the Japanese IT giant will have to deal with the national entrance exams, which are mandatory for all university-bound students.
Representatives of the company also stated that the purpose of such technology is to eventually “enable anyone to easily use sophisticated mathematical analysis tools.” The research department is aware that completing this project will not be easy: “(But) getting a computer to understand text that was intended for humans is not an easy task.”
Hopefully, the robot will not have access to the Internet while attempting to pass the exams, as a search on Google or Wolfram-Alpha would bring out all the necessary answers to grant the entrance. After all, it should meet the same conditions as the human students.
Fujitsu’s robot is not the first intelligent robot to go up against humans in a contest. In 2008, IBM developed its now-worldwide-famous Watson, a robot that challenged humans in the game of “Jeopardy!” As you probably know, Watson managed to provide all the right questions, thus winning the $1 million prize, eventually. Developing smart robots is an initiative that is worth all the applause it can get, as long as the safety of humans is not endangered.
If you liked this post, please check this smart rabbit called Karotz and the smart wheelchair project.
