WASHINGTON, DC — Randi Weingarten, president of one of America’s most powerful teachers’ unions, strongly criticized first lady Melania Trump’s comments that humanoid robot teachers could be very important to children’s education.
After appearing with a humanoid robot during an AI education conference on Wednesday, Trump said that a humanoid robot teacher would “provide a personalized, tailored experience to the needs of each student” so that “our children can develop critical thinking skills and independent thinking skills.”
Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, delivered the sharp rebuke during Thursday’s Workers First AI Summit. Hosted by the AFL-CIO, the gathering of labor representatives and civil society organizations aims to unite workers across industries to form a united front against the unabated growth of AI and its growing impact on American workers. “What he did yesterday was a nightmare for every parent,” Weingarten said during a meeting to evaluate policies that should protect workers’ rights amid rapid AI development.
“This is what Big Tech wants to create: a sense of society led and taught by robots, taking away everything we are, starting with education,” he said.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Weingarten argued that AI is a tool that requires human supervision and that education and decision-making should not be delegated to technology. “The future has arrived,” he said. “What are we going to do to ensure that AI is a tool? That humans are in charge, not a tool?”
The role of AI in education is the focus of the American Federation of Teachers, the second largest teachers’ union in the United States. In July, the union launched the National Academy for AI Instruction in partnership with leading AI companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic. The academy provides resources and hosted training to help teachers learn about AI and integrate AI tools into their classrooms.
“Tech billionaires tried to get technology 20 years ago to replace teachers, now they’re trying to get AI to replace teachers,” Weingarten told NBC News on the sidelines of the conference.
“It doesn’t fully understand what American education is about, but what kids really need,” she added, stressing that conservative groups like Moms for Liberty have also recently protested the increasing amount of time students spend on computers and screens in the classroom.
To Weingarten, Melania Trump’s comments about the possibility of humanoid robots replacing or supplementing human instruction ignore the importance of human interaction in education. “We need people to actually help other people in the teaching and learning process. This is not about memorization. This is not about being an automaton,” Weingarten said.
“This could not care less about children or being in the pockets of multi-billion dollar technology companies,” he added. “They’re both wrong, and it’s too bad for our society.”
