Saednews: Professors at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) are using an AI tool called Kudu to create textbooks, assignments, and more.
According to the Science and Technology Service of Saednews, quoting ISNA, there are moments in life with artificial intelligence where we feel we are crossing a threshold with no return. The latest example of this happens at UCLA, where a university professor is asking AI to create lecture notes, assignments, and teaching assistant resources for their class, which covers the study of medieval literature up to the seventeenth century.
Professor Zrinka Stahuljak is using an AI tool called Kudu, developed by Alexander Kusenko, a professor of physics and astronomy at UCLA, and a former PhD student at the university, Warren Essey.
They see "Kudu" as a high-quality and low-cost way for students to access all the information they need, while professors can focus on teaching.
"Kudu" extracts from PowerPoint presentations, YouTube videos, lecture notes, and other materials that Professor Stahuljak provides. According to UCLA, this should take no more than 20 hours of the professor’s time, after which they can edit the content.
The resulting textbook is available digitally for $25, and can be printed or used as an audiobook. "Kudu" also uses the educational materials provided to answer students' questions. Additionally, it can detect whether more than half of the content provided by a student is generated by AI.
Professor Stahuljak says: "I used to spend my class time creating content and using visuals to demonstrate the material, but now all of this is in the textbook we have produced, and I can actually work with students to read the primary sources, explain their meanings, analyze them, and think critically."
She added, "This AI allows us to spend more time teaching essential analytical skills, critical thinking, and reading skills in a consistent way, which is what professors are best at doing. I plan to use 'Kudu' for other courses in the future."
This AI tool is currently being tested in this semester in an introduction to history class, and will be available for Professor Stahuljak's course in 2025. We will have to see how successful this approach is, and most importantly, whether AI remains a tool for teachers and professors or becomes a low-cost way to replace them.
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