The Financial Times reports that some parents are skeptical of the South Korean government's plans to introduce tablets with AI-enabled textbooks into classrooms.
The tablets are due to be introduced next year, and teachers will be using the AI textbooks for all subjects except music, art, physical education and ethics by 2028. The government hasn't revealed many details about how it will work, other than to say the materials will be customised for different learning speeds and teachers will be able to use a dashboard to monitor how students are doing.
In response, more than 50,000 parents signed a petition calling on the government to focus on students' overall wellbeing rather than new technology. “We as parents are already facing unprecedented levels of problems resulting from[our children's]exposure to digital devices,” they said.
Mum-of-two Lee Seung-yeon told the Financial Times: “I worry that too much use of digital devices will have a negative impact on children's brain development, concentration and problem-solving skills, especially as children are already using too much smartphones and tablets.”
