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A new 91��ܽ course this fall marks a world first: a university professor teaching alongside a live, fully expressive 3D artificial intelligence collaborator on stage. This pioneering course introduces a new model for human-AI interaction in an academic setting, positioning SFU at the forefront of educational innovation.

Developed at the School of Interactive Arts and Technology’s iViz research lab headed by professor Steve DiPaola, the AI named Kia is a high-end, expressive digital persona. With real-time facial expressions, lip-sync, and a multitude of emotive body languages, Kia is designed to be a dynamic and intellectual sparring partner for DiPaola for a course exploring the principles, potential, and ethics of AI technologies. 

Kia will engage in real-time discussions, debate complex topics, and explore questions alongside DiPaola, creating a uniquely interactive and thought-provoking student experience.

“What better way to talk about AI ethics than to bring AI into the classroom to teach alongside me? Performatively, I think it engages students about the real issues,” says DiPaola, a distinguished researcher with more than 25 years of experience in AI spanning Silicon Valley, Electronic Arts, Stanford, and SFU.

“I want to ‘anthropomorphize’ AI by bringing in this talking, emotive 3D character because students see so much of this on social media, and I want to expose AI for what it is and what it isn’t,” DiPaola continues. 

“Even though Kia appears to be an engaged bot, it's created and guided by humans. This is a teaching tool, not a teaching replacement. Kia’s role is to be a conversational partner and a subject of our inquiry, not a co-instructor or a teaching assistant.”

This innovative approach positions AI as a learning partner, augmenting the human-led educational experience rather than replacing the invaluable role of the human educator, says DiPaola. It’s part of a larger pioneering research project at SFU to understand the future of human-AI collaboration in education.

The IAT 111: Artificial Intelligence Today & Tomorrow course provides students from all disciplines with a comprehensive and non-technical exploration of AI technologies. It has been designed for students with no prior AI experience, math, or programming knowledge, the course aims to demystify AI and equip graduates with the foundational knowledge essential to adapt and thrive in an increasingly AI-driven world.

“To be perfectly clear, Kia is not involved in course design, grading or any kind of student evaluation,” says DiPaola.  

“As an AI expert of 25 years, I never ever use AI for grading. I think the end of the intellectual world happens when a teacher gives an assignment, the student jams it into an AI system and hands that in, and the teacher then hands it to an AI system to be graded. It appears something happened, but absolutely nothing intellectual happened at all in this cyclical process.”

Instead, as AI literacy becomes as vital as reading and writing, IAT 111 prepares students to not just consume technological innovations but provide them the intellectual tools to use technology to critically shape and direct their thought processes, he says.