HONG KONG: Using virtual reality headsets, students at a Hong Kong university travel to a pavilion above the clouds to watch an AI-generated Albert Einstein explain game theory.
The students are part of a course at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) that is testing the use of “AI lecturers” as the artificial intelligence revolution hits campuses around the world.
The mass availability of tools such as ChatGPT has sparked optimism about new leaps in productivity and teaching, but also fears over cheating, plagiarism and the replacement of human instructors.
Professor Pan Hui, the project lead for HKUST’s AI project, is not worried about being replaced by the tech and believes it can actually help ease what he described as a global shortage of teachers.
“AI teachers can bring in diversity, bring in an interesting aspect, and even immersive storytelling,” Hui told AFP.
In his “Social Media for Creatives” course, AI-generated instructors teach 30 post-graduate students about immersive technologies and the impact of digital platforms.
These instructors are generated after presentation slides are fed into a programme. The looks, voices and gestures of the avatars can be customised, and they can be displayed on a screen or VR headsets.
This is mixed with in-person teaching by Hui, who says the system frees human lecturers from the “more tedious” parts of their job.
For student Lerry Yang, whose PhD research focuses on the metaverse, the advantage of AI lecturers was in the ability to tailor them to individual preferences and boost learning.
If the AI teacher “makes me feel more mentally receptive, or if it feels approachable and friendly, that erases the feeling of distance between me and the professor”, she told AFP.
