Simon Fraser University’s iViz research lab has developed a 3D AI avatar named Kia that will appear alongside Professor Steve DiPaola in his course on the ethics, potential, and principles of AI technologies this fall. DiPaola, who leads the iViz lab, plans to engage in live discussions and debates with Kia to provoke thought among students. He emphasized that Kia is not intended to replace instructors, but rather to serve as “a conversational partner and a subject of our inquiry.” DiPaola discussed the reasoning behind the move: “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.”
SFU
