China’s schools are quietly using AI to mark students’ essays ... but do the robots make the grade?

Scientists insist the technology is designed to assist, rather than replace, human teachers.

One in every four schools in China is quietly testing a powerful machine that uses artificial intelligence to mark pupils’ work, according to scientists involved in the government programme.

The technology is designed to understand the general logic and meaning of the text and make a reasonable, human-like judgment about the essay’s overall quality.