Robots are inevitably moving closer to us. If, until now, toy robots and programmable logic controller (PLCs) used in the classroom were the answer to industrial robots and other robotic machines used in society, now drones, educational and interactive robots herald cobots in the workplace, assistance robots in virtually every field, domestic robots and even emotional robots.
Robots are also changing their names: autonomous vehicles, automated guards, translators, control beacons, technical assistants, pet robots and more. They can operate in networks, swarms or teams. They can fly, roll, crawl, swim, walk, climb, bounce, jump, run, smile, warn. They perceive, detect, listen, speak. Above all, and this radically changes their influence, they learn and improve from their actions and interactions with us or their environment. In this way, we lend them the quality of intelligence.
Our dealings with them become quasi-sensitive relationships, as much as they appear to be, and that's precisely what's at stake. The more attention we give them, which is what these intelligent robots thrive on, the less easy our relationships with our fellow human beings appear to be, since those with robots are generally less rough, polished by algorithms molded on our behaviors.
In education, will they remain the subject of study, or will they become essential actors or mediators? Do they have unstoppable advantages? In principle, they are there to help us, not to do the work of learning or thinking for us, which clearly traces the limits of their use in pedagogy.
This edition has not been produced on autopilot, nor has it been suggested by an A.I. Our editors have put forward pertinent proposals in response to a number of current issues linked to ongoing robotization. At most, A.I. has produced a few images that are easy to recognize.
Enjoy your reading.
Denys Lamontagne - [email protected]
Illustration: Victoria on Pixabay
