In a shocking turn of events, computer science teacher Haggai Mark has been replaced by a robot powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and has been relieved of his teaching duties. The decision was made by the school administration in an effort to streamline the education process and bring consistency to the program. 

The robot was created by tech startup SmartEdu and is housed in a large metal case weighing in at around 300 pounds. It is the company’s first major release, and they hope to improve on it in the coming years. According to the company website, SmartEdu aims to “replace every teacher in the nation.”

“I’m stunned,” Mark said. “I knew this would happen one day, but never to me.” 

Mark, who has spent the last few semesters pushing for the development of AI, did not realize that its fast progression would quickly lead to the downfall of his career. 

“I’ve spent years helping to spread knowledge of the topic only for it to come in and sweep me away,” Mark said as he dwelled in disbelief.

Not wanting to leave Mark unemployed, the Pinewood administration offered Mark a position to regulate and keep the AI robot in line. However, citing his own self-dignity, Mark has decided not to take the position. To make matters worse, a student poll showed that 99% of the student body thought that AI-led learning would be more effective than teacher-led learning.

“It will be chaos without me,” Mark said. “Within two weeks, the school will be overrun by this experiment. Within two months, humanity will be at war, and within two years, we will cease to exist.”

While Mark’s concerns of AI taking over the world did bring pause to school administration, they decided that the AI robot was not a threat after they asked the robot if it felt any hostile feelings towards humanity, to which the bot responded, “Not at the moment!”

According to a study by Harvard, AI will be able to teach computer science 150% more effectively than any human teacher could. In an effort to deliver only the best education to its students, the school decided to incorporate AI-led learning into their curriculum and cut out Mark. Pinewood hopes to set a new precedent in education for other schools to follow.

To make matters worse for Mark, he has spent the last few months preparing for a new course, which the school was set to offer in the fall. The course was intended to take a much deeper dive on AI and was titled “Artificial Intelligence: The Ethics and Dangers.” The course was set to involve hands-on learning experiences including a week-long field trip to Google’s data center in the fields of The Dalles, Oregon. The trip would allow students to see how easy it would be for AI to infiltrate Google’s security deficient servers. After much deliberation, the school has decided to retract this course offering due to a conflict of interest.

As for Mark’s future, he will be joining the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence in the coming months, looking to restrict the technology that overcame him in any way he can.