Leachim is an anagram of its creator’s name, Michael J. Freeman, a pioneer scientist and inventor. The 6-foot-tall robot could interact independently with several students at a time. It addressed them each by name and adjusted its teaching speed to meet each student’s unique needs. One of students’ favorite things about Leachim was the bot’s “ceaseless patience” no matter how many times they got something wrong.
Where did this early form of artificial intelligence teach kids?
Answer: In a classroom in the Bronx.
Shutterstock
“As one of Leachim’s original fourth grade students, I will never forget its positive influence over my entire life … ,” said Matthew Gray. He was talking about one of his old instructors, who also happens to be an early form of artificial intelligence. Leachim was a robot that helped teach Gray and his fellow fourth graders in a classroom in the Bronx in the early 1970s.
Leachim is an anagram of its creator’s name, Michael J. Freeman, a pioneer scientist and inventor. The 6-foot-tall robot could interact independently with several students at a time. It addressed them each by name and adjusted its teaching speed to meet each student’s unique needs. One of students’ favorite things about Leachim was the bot’s “ceaseless patience” no matter how many times they got something wrong.
More than 50 years later, Leachim has re-emerged and is headed for auction. The robot will go up for public auction later this year along with its prototypes, patents, inventor notes and commercialized descendants. A date and auction house have not been announced yet.
Leachim is an anagram of its creator’s name, Michael J. Freeman, a pioneer scientist and inventor. The 6-foot-tall robot could interact independently with several students at a time. It addressed them each by name and adjusted its teaching speed to meet each student’s unique needs. One of students’ favorite things about Leachim was the bot’s “ceaseless patience” no matter how many times they got something wrong.
