The National AI Institute for Adult Learning and Online Education (AI-ALOE) is a research institute led by the Georgia Institute of Technology.  AI-ALOE is a leader in developing cutting-edge AI applications for improving online adult education. These efforts are bidirectional - AI is used to transform online adult learning and online adult learning to transform AI. These transformations are not “just doing things better” but “doing better things” in effectiveness, efficiency, access, scale, and personalization.

The podcast will focus on a generative-AI-based virtual teaching assistant, Jill Watson. Developed by researchers at AI-ALOE, Jill Watson is deployed on the class learning management system to engage in extended, cognitively-rich and factually grounded one-on-one conversations with students about topics in instructor-approved course materials anytime and anywhere. With its reach, Jill Watson affords opportunities for improving and democratizing post-secondary learning.

Readings and Resources: https://aialoe.org, Taneja, Karan, Pratyusha Maiti, Sandeep Kakar, Pranav Guruprasad, Sanjeev Rao, & Ashok K. Goel. "Jill Watson: A Virtual Teaching Assistant powered by ChatGPT."

Episode Guests

Ashok Goel

Ashok K. Goel is a Professor of Computer Science and Human-Centered Computing in the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Institute of Technology and the Chief Scientist with Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities. For almost forty years, he has conducted research into cognitive systems at the intersection of artificial intelligence and cognitive science with a focus on computational design and creativity. For almost two decades, much of his research has increasingly focused on AI in education and education in AI. He is a Fellow of AAAI and the Cognitive Science Society, an Editor Emeritus of AAAI’s AI Magazine, and a recipient of AAAI’s Outstanding AI Educator Award as well as the University of System of Georgia’s Scholarship of Learning and Teaching Award. Ashok is the PI and Executive Director of National AI Institute for Adult Learning and Online Education (aialoe.org) sponsored by the United States National Science Foundation.

Sandeep Kakar

Sandeep Kakar is a Research Scientist in the Design & Intelligence lab of the School of Interactive Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology. His research interest centers around using artificial intelligence to improve learning outcomes in online education. He holds an MS in Computer Science. His previous education includes a Ph.D. in Physics and an MBA.

Kristy Singletary

Kristy Singletary has 15 years of experience in Georgia’s technical colleges. She currently serves as the Dean of General Education at Georgia Northwestern Technical College, as an English faculty member at Southern Regional Technical College, and as a teaching fellow at the National AI Institute for Adult Learning and Online Education (AI-ALOE).

Dr. Singletary is a passionate advocate for equitable access to higher education, with research focused on identifying and addressing barriers to student success in higher education. Recently, she has become an active contributor to research on the ethical integration of AI to enhance learning outcomes in TCSG classrooms. As an educator, administrator, and researcher, Dr. Singletary is deeply committed to providing exceptional education for students across northwest and southwest Georgia.