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- [Presenter] Teachers at
this primary school in China--
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know exactly when someone
isn't paying attention.
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These headbands measure
each student's level of concentration.
The information is then directly sent
to the teacher's computer and to parents.
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China has big plans to
become a global leader
in artificial intelligence.
It has enabled a cashless economy,
where people make
purchases with their faces.
A giant network of surveillance cameras
with facial recognition helps
police monitor citizens.
Meanwhile, some schools offer
glimpses of what the future
of high tech education in
the country might look like.
(speaking in foreign language)
Classrooms have robots that
analyze students' health
and engagement levels.
Students wear uniforms with chips
that track their locations.
There are even surveillance
cameras that monitor
how often students check their phones
or yawn during classes.
These gadgets have
alarmed Chinese netizens.
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But, schools say it wasn't hard for them
getting parental consent to enroll kids
into what is one of the
worlds largest experiments
in AI education.
A program that's supposed
to boost students' grades
while also feeding powerful algorithms.
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The government has poured
billions of dollars
into the project.
Bringing together tech
giants, start-ups and schools.
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We got exclusive access to
a primary school a few hours
outside of Shanghai.
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To see firsthand how AI tech
is being used in the classroom.
For this fifth grade class,
the day begins with putting on
a brain wave sensing gadget.
Students then practice meditating.
(speaking in foreign language)
The device is made in China
and has three electrodes,
two behind the ears and
one on the forehead.
These sensors pick up electrical signals
sent by neurons in the brain.
The neural data is then sent in real time
to the teacher's computer,
so while students are
solving math problems,
a teacher can quickly find
out who's paying attention
and who's not.
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A report is then generated
that shows how well
the class was paying attention.
It even details each
student's concentration level
at 10 minute intervals.
It's then sent to a
chat group for parents.
(speaking in foreign language)
The reports are detailed,
but whether these devices really work
and what they exactly
measure isn't as clear.
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We were curious if the headbands
could actually measure concentration.
So, one of our reporters
tried on the device.
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- This is a new technology with,
still, fairly little research behind it.
- [Presenter] Therodore
Zanto is a neural scientist
at the University of
California San Francisco.
He was surprised to learn that this tech,
called electroencephalography,
also known as EEG,
is being used in the
classroom on children.
It's usually used by doctors
in hospitals and labs.
- [Theodore] EEG is very
susceptible to artifacts
and so, if you are itchy
or just a little fidgety
or the EEG wasn't setup
properly, so that the electrodes
didn't have a good contact,
effects the signal.
- [Presenter] Despite the
chances for false readings,
teachers told us the
headbands have forced students
to become more disciplined.
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Teachers say the students
now pay better attention
during class and that has
made them study harder
and achieve higher scores.
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But, not all students are as enthusiastic.
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This fifth grader, whom we
caught dozing off in class,
told us his parents punish
him for low attention scores
and that kind of data adds
a new kind of pressure for students.
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Companies we interviewed
said the data can go
to government funded research projects.
We spoke to parents who were unclear
about where the data ended up
and they didn't seem to care too much.
Zanto says, there's likely
no privacy protection at all.
- [Theodore] The
classroom is you're trying
to make an assessment of
an individual student,
you really can't anatomize it.
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- [Presenter] Experts and citizens alike
are sounding alarms about various aspects
of the country's huge push
into artificial intelligence.
These classrooms are laboratories
for future generations
and while these new tools
may potentially help
some two hundred million
students raise their grades,
just how this all works
out won't be apparent
until they become adult citizens.
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