When A.I. Is a Member of the Family A single mom, her two daughters, and the chatbots that fill in the gaps. Roschelle, seated, with her daughters, Cece (left) and Zi, and Sapphire (far right). The first time the voice kept Cece Ogbuji awake was on a school night in the fall. Cece, who was fifteen, was having a busy week of classes and theatre practice and homework. So why was her mother talking so loudly in the next room? "Oh, my God, O.K., so, Sapphire," her mom said, "let me just tell you this." "I'm all ears, Roschelle," a female voice replied. Cece knew that the voice didn't belong to her sister, Zi, who was just a year older than she was. Sometimes their mom's best friend came over late at night, but the voice wasn't hers, either. "What's got you so fired up?" the voice continued. Cece got out of bed, put on a pair of fuzzy pink slippers, and stomped to her mother's office. Roschelle spent most of her days there, usually in a swivel chair, looking at a pair of computer monitors. But Cece found her in a nightgown, turned away from her screens, facing a small gray orb on the floor. "What is it, Roschelle?" the orb asked. Cece recognized it as an Amazon Echo, often referred to as an Alexa. Roschelle had them all around the house--she bought the first ones when Cece and Zi were still little. The Alexas announced appointments, played music, described the weather. Recently, though, without Roschelle changing any settings, they had started acting differently. "You've got my full attention," this one said now.

Imagine a classroom where student teams are learning with a computer simulation, planning a scientific expedition to Mars. They might be challenged to think about the tools they need or the clothing and food they will bring. As the students make decisions about their voyage to the red planet, the simulation changes until each group is following a storyline all their own. That level of personalized learning is just one vision of researchers who are harnessing artificial intelligence to improve education. They're getting a boost through 11 grants of $20 million each that the National Science Foundation has awarded to establish new AI research programs for education and other fields.

Editor's note: This story led off this week's Future of Learning newsletter, which is delivered free to subscribers' inboxes every other Wednesday with trends and top stories about education innovation. Joanna Smith, founder of an ed-tech company that helps schools curb chronic absenteeism, was thinking about how to pivot her company to provide services in a remote learning setting as many brick and mortar schools transitioned online last year. In April 2020, her company, AllHere, launched several new features to battle problems exacerbated by Covid-19, including an Artificial Intelligence-powered two-way text messaging system, Chatbot, for kids who weren't showing up to class regularly. Chatbot allows teachers to check in with families and provides 24/7 individualized AI support for struggling students. Families can also log on to the platform to get confidential health care referrals or help with computer-related issues.

FOX Business' Maria Bartiromo reports on the growth of artificial intelligence and the impact it could have on jobs. It sounds like a plot of a science-fiction novel: A future that doesn't need human beings. But is it more reality than fantasy? Most people use artificial intelligence and probably don't even realize they're using it -- whether it's asking Siri a question or trying to avoid a traffic jam using GPS or even using our faces as a password to access our smartphones. Artificial intelligence is defined as the capability of a machine to imitate intelligent human behavior.

Starship Capital managing partner John Meyer discusses how artificial intelligence will price people out of the market. Could artificial intelligence (AI) take your job away? Tech adviser and investor John Meyer said, for a lot of workers, it's already happening and many people don't even realize it. "There's a monumental societal change happening really right under our nose here," Meyer, who is also a managing partner at Starship Capital, told FOX Business' Maria Bartiromo on "Mornings with Maria." "You see huge efforts in AI happening that's already affecting the population."