Robot developed that can ace university entrance exams

Will a robot soon get smart enough to crack the prestigious Tokyo University (Todai)'s extremely tough entrance examinations?

 

Fujitsu Ltd.'s research arm Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. is working with Japan’s National Institute of Informatics to develop such a robot.

 

A report on the Wall Street Journal said the project, started last year by NII, seeks to build an artificial brain that can get “high marks” on the nationwide university entrance exam within four years.

 

By 2021, it seeks to conquer Todai’s tougher exam.

 

Todai requires students to take the general university entrance exam of the National Center for University Entrance Examinations and its own tailored test.

 

The University of Tokyo has been listed by education network Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) as the 30th best in the world this year.

 

"NII and Fujitsu Laboratories jointly aim to develop the technologies needed for human-centric IT. These include formula recognition methods to recognize and interpret problem texts and put it into a data format that a computer can understand; natural language processing to generate a formula representation that the formula solver can understand; and formula-processing technology that can solve the composed formula quickly and accurately," tech site CNET quoted Fujitsu as saying in a release.

 

"The hope is that the technologies developed as part of this project will enable anyone to easily use sophisticated mathematical analysis tools," it added.

 

Cramming for the exam

 

The WSJ report said Fujitsu and NII are working to beef up the robot’s math skills. The test may also touch on subjects like world history, social studies, chemistry, physics, algebra, trigonometry and foreign languages. 

 

For now, Fujitsu said the robot can solve up to 60 percent of the math questions on the general nationwide entrance exam - not a good grade at this time.

 

Artificial intelligence

 

It also said the project may revive the debate on artificial intelligence, saying the robot's main goal is not just to best the exam but also to let people use sophisticated mathematical analysis tools, "which will lead to solutions for a wide range of real-world problems.”

 

WSJ added that while Fujitsu has built supercomputers like the K Computer that can handle eight quadrillion calculations per second, the Todai Robot "won’t be just a good calculator" but will also "have learned the problem-solving skills of high school-level math."

 

This would in turn allow scientists to translate the mathematical formulas as understood by humans in a way a robot can process.

 

Ultimately, the WSJ report said the efforts would also mean "leaving enough open-endedness to allow the robot’s artificial brain to weigh options and actually work out solutions."

 

Meanwhile, a separate article on CNET said it is not immediately clear if the "Todai robot" will be a humanoid robot.

 

"Whatever its form, it will have to master subjects such as physics, chemistry, and history, and answer questions on foreign languages," it said. — TJD, GMA News