In 2011, the National Institute of Informatics initiated a project that would enable a robot with artificial intelligence to gain entry at the University of Tokyo. Like most students, in order to study in the school, all applicants must go through the mandatory entrance exam.
University of Tokyo, or Todai, wanted to create an artificial intelligence program that is smart enough to do it. They hoped to have this goal fulfilled in March 2022. However, the team decided that it is abandoning that program when its latest AI robot failed to gain admission at Todai.
Aptly named Todai Robot, the AI program successfully passed initial tests. Until the team discovered that the program has a limitation. According to Japan Times, the AI did not have a complete ability to understand certain exam questions.
Professor Noriko Arai, the man behind NII, explained that the Todai Robot is not good at answering questions that requires meaning.
Most admissions exam require the student to not only answer technical questions relating to the school, industry and course. Exams also requires the applicants to answer questions that have a broader meaning.
Last year, the Todai Robot took a test via the unified admission for national universities. The results were not successful. This year, the AI robot took another version of the test. Its scores were similar to last year's results.
Over-all, the AI robot has slowly gained and increased its academic performance. But because of the unsuccessful attempts at making the cut, the team behind the Todai Robot is now thinking of focusing its efforts elsewhere.
The team is planning to shift their focus to gaining the academic skills required for written answers. The team must also take into account the inclusion of newer answers to its database. Will an artificial intelligence program be able to pass an entrance exam in the future? Only time will tell.
