Western University business school reviewing use of AI tutor by professors

Detailed summary

The business school at Western University says it's reviewing the use of an artificial intelligence tutor in one course after students raised concerns about the cost and…

The business school at Western University says it’s reviewing the use of an artificial intelligence tutor in one course after students raised concerns about the cost and reliability of the chatbot.

Ivey Business School’s associate dean for programs, Martha Maznevski, says in a statement the school is aware of the concerns surrounding course materials for the global macroeconomics for managers class and is reviewing the matter.

Forth-year student Daniel Wang says the class textbook was replaced earlier this fall with an AI tutor called Ask GMM and students have been asked to pay $72 to access the chatbot after they have already paid a $750 course materials fee.

Wang says students who took the class in previous years accessed the same course materials through the university’s learning system, but this year’s class materials are available behind a separate paywall.

He says students need to create external accounts on a separate website to access class materials, which raises concerns about the privacy and safety of their data and how their interactions with the AI tool are collected, stored and accessed.

Professors Kirsten Cornelson and Tony Frost say they are piloting the AI tool in their class this year and the fee students must pay covers the cost of building and using the AI.

Cornelson and Frost didn’t respond to questions about the potential risks of the new AI tool to the students’ privacy and data security.

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