Acadia Divinity College uses AI to deliver course on AI in Christian ministry

Acadia Divinity College at Acadia University recently conducted an experiment where it used an AI-generated avatar—in the image of Acadia Divinity College President Anna Robbins—to deliver a course to a group of graduate student volunteers. The AI avatar generated the course syllabus, scripted and delivered lectures, and graded assignments on the “especially germane topic” of ethics in AI in Christian ministry. The students—who participated as volunteers and did not pay to take part in the course—gave mixed reviews: They liked the near-instantaneous feedback, but said they felt “duped” and that they preferred getting a real professor’s feedback over a machine’s. CBC highlights other ways that AI is being used at the college, as well as its usage in religion around the world.