Scientists insist the technology is designed to assist, rather than replace, human teachers.
It could help to reduce the amount of time teachers spend on grading essays and help them avoid inconsistencies caused by human errors such as lapses in attention or unconscious bias.
It could also help more students, especially those in remote areas with limited access to resources, improve their writing skills more quickly.
The machine is similar to the e-rater, an automated system used by the Education Testing Service in the US to grade prospective postgraduate students’ essays.
But unlike the e-rater, it can read both Chinese and English.
China looks to school kids to win the global AI race
Artificial intelligence is developing rapidly in China with strong support from the government and the technology is used in many areas of everyday life.
But the extensive tests of the essay grading machine – built by some of the leading language processing teams involved in the government and military’s internet surveillance programme – were carried out with unusual security measures in place.
In most of the schools taking part in the programme, parents were not informed, access to the system terminals was limited to authorised staff, test results were strictly classified, and in some classes even the pupils were unaware that their work had been read and scored by a machine.
Sandra Stark on 20 Jan 11Students have always faced distractions and time-wasters. But computers and cellphones, and the constant stream of stimuli they offer, pose a profound new challenge to focusing and learning. Researchers say the lure of these technologies, while it affects adults too, is particularly powerful for young people. The risk, they say, is that developing brains can become more easily habituated than adult brains to constantly switching tasks - and less able to sustain attention.
