In a class designed to teach the history and explore the ethical challenges surrounding AI, Simon Fraser University Professor Steve DiPaola has designed an AI persona who will assist him in teaching his course.
Kia was created in SFU’s iViz research lab and will act as an AI representative who will act as an expert when discussing AI. Designed to look like a young Black woman with realistic facial expressions and body language, Kia will be projected on a monitor and will be approximately the same height as DiPaola.
DiPaola explained in an interview with CBC how he is critical of using AI in a way that pulls opportunities from human teaching assistants and that he is against students sending things into ChatGPT for an easy completion.
“If a student just sends stuff into ChatGPT and gives it right to a teacher and the teacher just marks it with an AI then nothing happened.”
DiPaola claims that Kia is different because he is using the AI as a tool rather than a shortcut. DiPaola believes this addition will stimulate classroom discussion in the form of debates and will show his students first hand some of the issues with AI.
