Could robots be marking your homework?

Could robots be marking your homework? What do you call a sick bird? This is computer-generated wordplay and an example of how the boundaries of artificial intelligence are shifting.If a computer can crack jokes, what other human activities could they start to replicate? What jobs could it take?Artificial intelligence has become an increasingly big issue for education – not least because many tech companies and publishers are circling around the huge commercial opportunities.But could students really get their answers from a robot rather than a teacher? Dr Tarek Besold, speaking at the annual OEB educational technology conference in Berlin, said a joke-writing computer showed how robots could be creative as well as carrying out repetitive, factory-floor tasks.