The debate for whether or not instructors are superfluous in online classes is alive and well. To read an interesting article on the topic, please go to http://www.facultymatters.com/summer11/technology-replace-faculty/.
But education is not just an individualistic experience. We learn much more than the topic at hand in college. We learn from other perspectives, add depth to our understanding by discussions and lectures, and through interactions with the instructor and students. A computer will never replace the knowledge that an expert in a specific field has. Think of the medical field. An individual learns through the experiences of others but also from experiences with patients, etc. Take away the human experience and you don't learn much of anything except what the book says. How many times have you found errors on a book, an online course, a website, etc? Artificial intelligence (AI) may be able to "help" you with that, but it won't be able to do much else.
Is education so one-dimensional now that we'd even consider getting rid of the human element? Are you one who remembers choosing instructors based on what you'd learned from other students and the philosophies they followed? Because I sure was. I wanted to learn, be challenged, and know that I could argue with instructors on the different philosophies and whether or not the tree outside really existed or was relative to those of us who saw it. Nobody will ever convince me that someone who doesn't have any instructors will know as much or have the depth of knowledge an instructor-led classroom can give. Maybe a hybrid course with AI and instructor would be "cool," but AI alone?!?
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