Alternative Title
Speaker for the Dead? Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to facilitate student engagement with historical thinkers and schools of thought
Contributor
University of Central Florida. Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning; University of Central Florida. Division of Digital Learning; Teaching and Learning with AI Conference (2025 : Orlando, Fla.)
Location
Space Coast
Start Date
29-5-2025 10:15 AM
End Date
29-5-2025 10:40 AM
Publisher
University of Central Florida Libraries
Keywords:
Generative AI; Historical engagement; Student interaction; Custom chatbots; Educational technology
Subjects
Artificial intelligence--Educational applications; Computer conferencing in education--Philosophy; Artificial intelligence--Computer-assisted instruction; Dialogue--Study and teaching; Technological innovations--Study and teaching
Description
The formation of mature humans capable of personal growth and leadership in society depends on students increasing their ability to engage a diversity of experiences and viewpoints. These include historical experiences and ideas that shaped the formation of contemporary cultures and societies. Traditionally students engaged these ideas and experiences through text versions of an individual' s writings, usually in translation. Professors and secondary textual accounts then provided the background for interpreting these texts in their experiential context. The ability to use Generative AI models like Chat GPT to create custom chatbots with relative ease creates new possibilities for this kind of engagement. First, a well trained custom chatbot can engage students in real time with the experiences and perspectives of a historical figure. Secondly, multiple such characters can engage both students and each other in a larger discussion over shared concerns. This presentation will offer the insights of an experiment in learning by three different groups of students in such mixed discussion groups involving fellow students and AI chatbots. In order to deepen the experience, and to give the students a greater perspective on the process, the students themselves will have helped train the chatbots.
Language
eng
Type
Presentation
Format
application/pdf
Rights Statement
All Rights Reserved
Audience
Faculty; Students; Administrators
Recommended Citation
Hunt, Robert, "Speaker for the Dead? Using AI to facilitate student engagement with historical thinkers and schools of thought" (2025). Teaching and Learning with AI Conference Presentations. 34.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/teachwithai/2025/thursday/34
Speaker for the Dead? Using AI to facilitate student engagement with historical thinkers and schools of thought
Space Coast
The formation of mature humans capable of personal growth and leadership in society depends on students increasing their ability to engage a diversity of experiences and viewpoints. These include historical experiences and ideas that shaped the formation of contemporary cultures and societies. Traditionally students engaged these ideas and experiences through text versions of an individual' s writings, usually in translation. Professors and secondary textual accounts then provided the background for interpreting these texts in their experiential context. The ability to use Generative AI models like Chat GPT to create custom chatbots with relative ease creates new possibilities for this kind of engagement. First, a well trained custom chatbot can engage students in real time with the experiences and perspectives of a historical figure. Secondly, multiple such characters can engage both students and each other in a larger discussion over shared concerns. This presentation will offer the insights of an experiment in learning by three different groups of students in such mixed discussion groups involving fellow students and AI chatbots. In order to deepen the experience, and to give the students a greater perspective on the process, the students themselves will have helped train the chatbots.