SCHOOLBOT 9000

It takes a village to resist a technology mega-corporation’s AI takeover of education.

Eleven-year-old James Lee likes making art, an activity he used to enjoy with his late father. Now, his single mom uses an autonomous HomeBot to help raise James, and she encourages him to think of it as family. Is it any wonder that he’s the first to question his middle school’s adoption of tech company Bux Global’s SCHOOLBOT? While SCHOOLBOT is able to make a convincing sales pitch to parents and promises to provide virtual tutoring, it also interferes with the classrooms it’s ostensibly meant to monitor. Students and teachers alike notice the would-be helper emphasizing students’ future employability, excessively criticizing their art projects, and violating their privacy. The CEO of Bux Global tries to suppress criticism of the company’s AI, but a growing coalition of protesters and activists (including teachers and parents) provides crucial checks and balances on their corporate influence. SCHOOLBOT and HomeBot, with their mechanical bodies and reflective eyes, frequently steal the show with their attempts to relate to or improve their human hosts. The flow chart depicting HomeBot’s drily logical attempt to provide emotional support to James is attractive and narratively compelling. The cartoon-style panels in soft, muted pastels are visually pleasing and interestingly varied. James has light tan skin and curly brown hair, and supporting characters are diverse in appearance.

A timely tale to inspire rumination on the promise and dangers of AI.