Robot Teachers? Teenagers Weigh In.

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current events conversation

Robot Teachers? Teenagers Weigh In.

Students react to a recent article about the first lady, Melania Trump, promoting the use of “humanoid educators” to teach children.

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Melania Trump, the first lady, with Figure 3, a humanoid robot developed by Figure AI, an artificial intelligence robotics company.

Credit...

Oliver Contreras/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

By

The Learning Network

April 23, 2026,

2:47 p.m. ET

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Welcome to

Current Events Conversation

, where each week we round up some of our favorite responses to one of our

student writing prompts

.

Would you want a robot for a teacher?

That’s the future Melania Trump, the first lady, envisioned at an educational summit last month when she

introduced guests to Figure 3

, a humanoid, A.I.-powered robot.

“Imagine a humanoid educator named ‘Plato,’” she said. “Access to the classical studies is now instantaneous: literature, science, art, philosophy, mathematics, and history. Humanity’s entire corpus of information is available in the comfort of your home.”

We asked teenagers

if they were ready to swap their human teachers for Figure 3. While a few were intrigued by the idea of an all-knowing, always-available educator, the vast majority found the concept “creepy,” “dystopian,” even “laughable.”

“Sure, a machine might be able to spit out facts or grade my math homework in two seconds,” one student said, “but it wouldn’t actually understand me.”

Thank you to everyone who joined the conversation this week, including students from

Israel

;

Silver Spring, Md.

; and

Graham High School

.

Please note: Comments have been edited and condensed.

Many students objected to the idea of a robot teacher, arguing that teaching requires not only knowledge, but a “soul.”

A robot teacher with endless knowledge sounds like an exciting concept, but I would definitely not want one to replace my teachers in class.

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