Robot joins Melania Trump to tout AI teachers
A humanoid robot walked down the red carpet corridor of the White House and accompanied US First Lady Melania Trump to an event where she promoted the greater use of artificial intelligence in education.
The human-shaped robot, which introduced itself as “Figure 03,” joined Trump in the East Room to welcome dozens of first spouses from around the world to the “technology-driven Fostering the Future Together” summit.
The robot greeted guests in 11 languages and said, “I am grateful to be a part of this historic movement to empower children with technology and education.”
Trump said Figure 03 was the first US-made humanoid guest at the White House and used his appearance to support the need for governments and major tech companies to work together to use artificial intelligence for student education.
“Very soon, artificial intelligence will move into humanoid robots that benefit from our mobile phones,” he said.
The First Lady, a former model, described how a hypothetical humanoid teacher in the near future could offer students personalized instruction based on their learning pace and “emotional state” with quick access to classical studies, mathematics and other subjects.
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, who is pushing President Donald Trump’s agenda to shrink the federal education department, smiled from the front row as the First Lady talked about the shakeup of education.
“When corporate innovation delivers, government creates scale, and our capital markets fund the deployment of these emerging technologies, we can accelerate the forward march of civilization,” Trump said.
The president’s wife also warned of technological dangers; This concern was also voiced by France’s First Lady Brigitte Macron, who praised her country’s moves to restrict screen time and social media for children.
Earlier Wednesday, President Trump appointed Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to a council that will weigh in on AI policy and other issues.
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