Would You Want a Robot Teacher?

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Student Opinion

Would You Want a Robot Teacher?

The first lady, Melania Trump, believes that more children should be educated by “humanoid educators.” Do you agree?

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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

Jeremy Engle

April 2, 2026,

7:58 a.m. ET

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What qualities do you appreciate most in your teachers? A passion about the subject? A creative approach to teaching? Empathy for students? Being approachable and relatable?

How would you feel about a teacher who never gets tired or loses patience, and who has the entire internet for a brain? In other words, would you want a robot as your teacher?

In “

Melania and the Robot

,” Katie Rogers writes about an educational summit held at the White House featuring an appearance by the first lady, Melania Trump, and Figure 3, a humanoid robot:

As first lady, Melania Trump promotes opportunities for foster children, argues for the eradication of online bullying and often travels to military bases in support of soldiers and their families.

She is also very into robots.

On Wednesday, Mrs. Trump appeared at the White House alongside Figure 3, a humanoid, A.I.-powered robot whose uses,

according to the company

that makes it, include fetching towels, carrying groceries and serving champagne. But Mrs. Trump joins tech executives and some researchers in envisioning a world beyond robot butlery. She is interested in how these robots could cut it as educators.

Both clad in shades of white, the first lady and the visiting robot walked into a gathering of first spouses from around the world, a group that included Sara Netanyahu of Israel, Olena Zelenska of Ukraine, and Brigitte Macron of France. The dulcet tones from a (presumably human) military orchestra played as the first lady and her guest entered the event.

Both lady and robot extolled the virtues of further integrating robots into the educational and social lives of children. In the history of modern first-lady initiatives, which have included building a national book festival (Laura Bush), reshuffling the food pyramid (Michelle Obama) and advocating free community college (Jill Biden), Mrs. Trump’s involvement of a humanoid robot in education policy was a first.

Figure 3 delivered brief remarks and delivered salutations in several languages. With its sleek black-and-white appearance, Figure 3 would fit right in with the first lady’s branding aesthetic, which includes a self-titled coffee table book and movie, not least because the name “MELANIA” was emblazoned on the side of its glossy plastic head.

After Figure 3 teetered gingerly away, Mrs. Trump looked around the room and told them that the future looked a lot like what they had just witnessed.

“The future of A.I. is ‘personified,’” she told her audience. “It will be formed in the shape of humans. Very soon artificial intelligence will move from our mobile phones to humanoids that deliver utility.”

She invited her guests to envision a future in which a robot philosopher educated children.

“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.”

The article explains, however, that not everyone is ready to hand over the keys to the classroom to a robot:

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