What if we test Japanese “exam-taking” robot

Clearly, the creators of a Japanese “exam-taking” robot that has got four out of 10 questions right in a sample maths test are far more charitable than the average Indian parents or Chinese tiger moms. Their protégé may be well on the way to clearing the notoriously difficult entrance examinations of Tokyo University with “high marks” by 2016; but the fact that the robot will then need another four years to reach a qualification percentile would certainly alarm Indian parents.

Not a single mark less than the proverbial “flying colours” is what mummy-papa expect from their brainy offspring here — and they are unlikely to let their progeny take the better part of a decade to achieve that either.

While the bot’s progress may be a giant leap for artificial intelligence (AI) scientists, the fact that it has merely attempted questions set by a well-known tutorial academy for entrance exams — an extra-academic feature that Japan evidently shares with India — raises even more grave doubts about its pace. Indian parents should, however, note that the robot’s “education” includes not only reading and language skills, but also emotional understanding, analysis and creative expression, which Indian examinations do not really test. So, the robot may qualify for Indian engineering or medical colleges before it makes the grade in Japan!