English school employs AI chatbot as “principal headteacher” to help make decisions

A British school has placed an AI in the position of “principal headteacher” and will help staff make decisions.

Cottesmore, a private boarding school in England that charges students £32,000 a year to attend, will be placing an AI chatbot as “principal headteacher”. The school isn’t doing away with its human headteacher, Tom Rogerson. Instead, he will be relying on AI to advise on a number of topics and issues.

Rogerson, speaking with The Telegraph, said that they’ll be using the AI to assist students with certain needs. This could include students with ADHD, as the AI will presumably be able to provide correct care pointers.

The AI will be called Abigail Bailey and is being built in conjunction with a developer. It’s also not the only AI that’s being deployed in the school. Cottesmore will be providing all students between four and 13 with their own chatbot. It’s not been detailed which language model it’s based on, or if it’s a new LLM.

Private school in England to use AI as assistant to headteacher

Speaking to The Telegraph, Rogerson added:

“Being a school leader, a headmaster, is a very lonely job. Of course, we have head teacher’s groups … but just having somebody or something on tap that can help you in this lonely place is very reassuring.

“It’s nice to think that someone who is unbelievably well-trained is there to help you make decisions.”

AI has already wreaked havoc amongst schools worldwide since the boom of ChatGPT earlier this year. A teacher came under fire after failing the entire class after ChatGPT “recognized” the work as its own. AI checkers like GPTZero have been routinely criticized for failing to properly detect generated work. OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, had to discontinue its own checker after it failed to do the job.

It’s a weird new world and it appears AI, while worldwide interest wanes, is slowly starting to find places in the tedious, menial tasks we all hate.