AI bot appointed as new 'headteacher' at £32k-per-year UK school

A top private school has appointed a new AI bot as ‘principal headteacher’.

Cottesmore School, a boarding prep school in West Sussex, worked closely with an artificial intelligence developer to create ‘Abigail Bailey’ - a bot specially designed to assist the fully human headteacher, Tom Rogerson.

Now, it might sound like something from the mind of Charlie Brooker, but Rogerson insists its a great idea and told The Telegraph AI Abigail is on-hand to dole out advice on a number of issues, such as how to support school staff members, writing school policies and even helping pupils who have ADHD.

He told the publication: “Sometimes having someone or something there to help you is a very calming influence.

“It’s nice to think that someone who is unbelievably well trained is there to help you make decisions.

“It doesn’t mean you don’t ever also seek counsel from humans. Of course you do. It’s just very calming and reassuring knowing that you don’t have to call anybody up, bother someone, you don’t have to wait around for an answer.”

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Abigail works in a similar way to the popular ChatGPT AI service, which can answer questions when asked or produce writing based on various prompts.

Rogerson says the AI bot has been specially designed to ‘have a wealth of knowledge in machine learning’, and is also able to quickly analyse ‘vast amounts of data’. Fancy.

He added: “Being a school leader, a headmaster, is a very lonely job. Of course we have head teacher’s groups... but just having somebody or something on tap that can help you in this lonely place is very reassuring.”

Cottesmore is a mixed day and boarding school for pupils aged from four to 13, and has fees of up to almost £32,000 a year - it has previously been named ‘Prep School of the Year’ by Tatler.

Cottesmore School

In the future, Rogerson says he hopes state schools use the publicly-available online robot too.

And, despite Abigail acting as his right-hand woman/AI bot, Rogerson insists that robots and technology will not replace his teachers, and that the school currently has more (fully human) staff members than ever before.

He said: “We are stepping into the future while preserving the core values of traditional education.

"The introduction of AI is not about replacing our dedicated educators but about augmenting their capabilities and ensuring our students receive the best education possible.”