Artificial Intelligence

Headmaster’s Routh Assembly Address
Monday 17th June 2019

“Do you feel lucky?” Which is both a genuine question to you all this morning, as well as a famously misquoted line from an old movie which I imagine most of you have never seen. If you ever do want to see just how politically incorrect the 1970’s were, go no further than watching “Dirty Harry”. In which a rogue cop called Harry Callaghan sticks a very large gun in the face of a bad guy who has lost count of how many bullets he fired and says “You've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky?”

However, back to whether you feel lucky this morning. You have been born and raised, not in the backward Seventies, but in the enlightened Age of Information, living lives blessed by access to unparalleled technology. Digital devices have enriched your existence beyond anything that your teachers and I experienced growing up. However, you also don’t have to look far to see visions of what might happen if it all goes horribly wrong. A dystopian world, where machines rise up and computers take over, has long been a staple of popular science fiction. Go back to the movies again. Think of Blade Runner or Robocop. The Terminator and The Matrix. Maybe Tron, i-Robot, or Ex-Machina. Even on the small screen, Westworld, or the disturbing visions of techno-paranoia offered up by any of the Black Mirror episodes. There is no end to dark imaginings about what goes wrong when computers wake up to our human failings and decide to take control.

The idea is not new. In fact, I still think the most haunting example is a scene from one of the very first of those movies, Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey.” Trapped outside his spaceship, astronaut Dave Bowman asks the onboard computer to open the doors and let him back in. Throughout the movie, he has talked easily, even intimately with HAL 9000, the super computer that runs all the ship’s systems. That probably doesn’t seem too far-fetched to you, especially if you have grown up asking Siri or Alexa or Google to do things or tell you stuff. But back in 1968, when ‘A Space Odyssey’ came out, that was a fairly incredible concept. A computer smarter than a human, talking like a human, taking responsibility for humans. Mind-blowing.

Which is why the exchange between HAL and Dave as he tries to re-enter the ship was so chilling. If you say to any person of my generation the famous line “Open the pod bay doors HAL” and they will probably reply “I can’t do that Dave.” Most likely, they will do so in that same calm, reasonable tone. HAL’s friendly and familiar voice was worse than the harsh, alien voices that robots were normally given. The astronauts and indeed, the audience, had been lulled into thinking of HAL the supercomputer in human terms. Yet suddenly, it was sentencing humans to death in a calm, almost sympathetic tone. Terrifying.

Fortunately, Dave manages to sneak back onto the spaceship, find his way into the computer’s core and systematically pulls out all of HAL’s memory chips. There is a moving scene where HAL is talking as its memory goes, regressing back to childlike babbling before eventually blinking out. Google the clip if you want to watch it. Just ask Google nicely.

I tell you all this not as an encouragement to go home a secretly unplug Alexa or Siri. I mention it because, as we come to the end of the term and you prepare to say farewell to your teachers for another year, a Government report has been on my mind.

Last year, the British Parliament commissioned a report into the likely impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in this country in the coming years. Artificial intelligence is the creation of intelligent machines that work and react like humans. Speech and face recognition, weather forecasting, automated Help Centres, the fact that your plane flies smoothly and doesn’t crash, predictive texting, your social media feed; that’s all AI.

The difference between ordinary computer programs that do the same thing over and over again without fail and AI, is that AI learns as it goes. When it makes a mistake or spots a new opportunity it learns, just like we do. Only better. One of the most famous ways to test AI was to have it play the two most difficult board games ever, Chess and Go. Both have millions of permutations; both rely on the intelligence and perception of the player to read and constantly change the game.

The World Grandmasters in both Chess and Go have regularly played against computers, sometimes winning, sometimes losing. Until last December, when Google’s secret project, a supercomputer called Deepmind, beat them all. Every time. Learning and adapting as it went. It has grown so good, it doesn’t play humans anymore. It is looking for another machine to play, to give it a real challenge. That is the power of AI – it can learn how people think and it never makes the same mistake twice.

The benefits identified in that Government report therefore, were exciting, if a little breath-taking. Medical scans read with 100% accuracy – never miss a cancer again. Smart homes that are warmer, cheaper and more secure – you never have to think about turning lights or heating on. Perfect weather forecasting – make your outdoor plans with certainty. Crime reduction through facial recognition – walk the streets with confidence.

However, there was also some scary stuff suggested. Military technology, like autonomous weapons. Robots, drones, even tanks and ships programmed to kill continuously, without any human control. Driverless cars and lorries, which are actually already on Britain’s roads. Algorithms used for social manipulation; think of the way that the company Cambridge Analytica used data from 50 million Facebook users to try to sway the outcome of the U.S. presidential election and the U.K.'s Brexit referendum. Not to mention the loss of hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of jobs once done by people, soon to be done by machines.

So, this Government report painted a picture of future Britain that is going to change dramatically due to the use of artificial intelligence in business, banking, transport, manufacturing, healthcare, and travel. Just about everything in fact, except education. There, it was silent.

Why was that? It is not as if there aren’t obvious applications. It is not hard to imagine a young child, maybe even a new-born baby, being paired with an online avatar that becomes its personal tutor for the next 18 years. Maybe even for life.

An AI application that speaks to it in a soothing and friendly voice like Alexa or Siri (or maybe a bit like HAL). A super smart application that takes the child through its lessons, learning as it goes about their relative strengths and weaknesses. Checking those against a database of the billions of other children also being educated by their own personalised computer programmes.

Looks like Mia is falling behind other children her age in Mathematics – let’s schedule some extra exercises. It knows that Sam works better with language tasks in the morning, so his day starts with English.
It learns what motivates Rachel and uses those rewards as strategies to encourage her. And because it is her programme and hers alone, it is always giving her its full attention. It has been with her since birth and has perfect recall, so it knows exactly what she wants to talk about and when. The computer becomes more than her teacher, it is her friend, mentor and soulmate, guiding her social and emotional development as well as her academic. Could AI replace teachers?

Consider whether you think that is credible. AI has already replaced clerks, warehouse workers, farm labourers and call centre staff. It is currently replacing drivers, pilots, doctors, accountants even magistrates and lawyers. There’s no doubt AI can replace teachers. The question is not could it, but should it?

I think, the answer sits behind me this morning. As you prepare to say farewell to your teachers in the next two weeks, some of you for the last time, I encourage you to consider what they have added to your life over the past year or years. If that Government report can’t imagine teachers being replaced by artificial intelligence avatars, it is not because teachers are smarter than computers. Clearly, we are not. But they can do the one thing that AI cannot and probably never could. They care.

The people behind me care about you. They want you to thrive, not just academically but in every aspect of your personality and your life. Unlike a robot, when they finish teaching you in a classroom, they put on kit and coach your sports team. Or they climb onto a bus and take you to the theatre. Or the give up their lunch break to give you a little extra tuition. Or to sort out a problem that you’re having in your House. They call your parents to check things are OK when you look down.

Or write home to praise your efforts. Yes, occasionally they get frustrated with you. Or forget something. Or put you under too much pressure. They are human, after all. But that is precisely why they are better than AI. Because they are human. And their humanity, towards you and all whom they teach, is what makes them so effective and influential in your lives.

They encourage you, push you, reprimand and praise you, because they are passionate educators who know the power of relationships to help people flourish. And I guarantee you this. 50 years from now, you will still remember the person sitting behind me now who inspired you. The one who showed faith in you. Who who gave you another chance or pushed you out of your comfort zone. You will remember the humans, and the humanity, of Bromsgrove and, I hope, you will be glad that you were taught by them and not a soulless robot. For that reason alone, make sure you say thanks. 

Presentations
The ADGP race team attended a wet and windy race event at Lotus in Norfolk last week, where they collected trophies for two 2nd place races and an innovation and technology award presented by Lotus. The team should be commended for not giving up even though the weather and a buckled wheel slowed the car when they should have won comfortably. All were a great credit to the School and I invite the following to come forward to collect the trophies from the day:
Polly Dakin, Aggie Warner, Noah Rogers, Ollie Weekes, Morgan Black, Harrison Philpott, Freya Tweddell, Howard Goldstraw, Callum Wilkinson, Mikayla Gouveia.

We have a CREST Gold Award to present to Marian Skurtu for a year’s work at Bromsgrove, together with several months’ research at a university in Ukraine.

Review
A huge thank you to LIVth from Mrs Leech and all involved the LifeSkills activities week. You really impressed all the visitors and it was very good to see you pushing yourselves out of your comfort zone and trying new activities. You can be proud of your engagement last week.

You also deserve special praise for how you conducted yourselves during the other half of your week, at the annual camp in Symonds Yat. The way that you ploughed on through unseasonably wet weather, demonstrating resilience, fortitude and a collective teamwork, was impressive. It was equally pleasing to see the LVIth volunteers supporting and guiding as well.

Finally from last week, thank you to all who welcomed next year’s LIVth in to school last Thursday and Friday.

Sport
Congratulations to those who competed for Hereford and Worcestershire in the prestigious Mason Trophy athletics meeting at the Alexander Stadium. They were:
Josh Leonisio, Matt Burke, Andrew Wong, Alex Collin, Emily Gittoes, Felicitas Zahlbruckner, Hannah Sahota, Zach Armstrong, Louis Upton, Billy McDonough.

Superb news from Lithuania, where Natalie Hatfield won a bronze medal representing Great Britain in the U17 European Pentathlon relay.

 
Preview
Today all LVIth will have the opportunity to start important university research. All students are to attend a presentation by Lancaster University at 3pm in Routh Hall. At 4.00pm, day students go to the higher education fair in the Hospitality Suite and then boarders attend at 4.40pm.

There is also a presentation at 5.30pm from the Head of Admissions at Bath University on how to make the most of your application.

UIVth students are also encouraged to attend the fair with tutors to start research early.

The UIVth cadets attend the CCF field day at Nesscliff on Wednesday.

Morrisby Profile –UIVth and some LVIth students will be taking the Morrisby profile on Thursday or Friday this week. Please look out for an email from Miss Leech to inform you of the time and venue.

Finally, we best wishes to the IB students who will be travelling on Saturday to Amsterdam to sail the tall ship ‘Tenacious’ back to London.

Let us end our gathering with the Grace – please stand.