Robots using AI will soon be in halls of every Greenville County school. Here’s what they’ll do

Coming soon to a school in Greenville County — robot janitors.

The Greenville County School Board approved spending $82,000 for a sweeper and scrubber for each of its 85 schools to clean hallways, cafeterias and gyms.

The board also set up a $21.1 million fund to pay for the program and replacements over 20 years.

Eight schools have been trying out the sweeper-scrubber combo with their AI intelligence and scanners to great success, school officials said.

They don’t really need anything from anyone to work. They can even drain their own wastewater and go back to their power source when done.

Similar machines are used in hospitals, hotels and shopping malls.

Board member Michelle Goodwin Calwile asked what she said many constituents would be worried about — how many people are going to lose their jobs?

Superintendent Burke Royster said no one. Floor cleaning typically takes up a half to three-quarters of the time of a custodial employee.

They will be reassigned to other duties like pressure washing buildings outside or landscaping.

“There’s plenty of work to do,” he said.