Soon, teacher avatars to adapt to the
personality of the students
Caroline Beyer
February 1st 2025
February 1st 2025
Entrepreneurs are banking on cognitive science to
generate customized virtual teachers. Before tackling
schools, they are now targeting companies' professional
training and their financial windfall.
Samantha is a teacher. She has a slight American accent. Logically, this young blonde woman was born in the United States. She now lives in Bordeaux. She teaches a course on "prompt", or the art of writing instructions to an artificial intelligence like ChatGPT. But Samantha can also teach actuarial science (the science of insurance). And any other discipline, for that matter. As long as she is programmed for it.
Samantha is a prototype of an intelligent avatar, imagined in June by four Master of Science holders from Mines Paris. They recently launched the start-up Concorde AI, specializing in training assisted by generative AI. Samantha's appearance is realistic, her voice a little monotonous. She is not the only character offered by the company. The catalog allows you to make your choice based on several criteria: gender, ethnic origin, clothing style, but also, possibly, personality. This is where the start-up wants to make a difference, in a market where innovations in the field of training, education and academic support are flourishing. The company Edailabs thus offers, with the Klea AI Teacher application, to learn English with an avatar that has the features of an animated character. Eliott, for his part, is a small robot specialized in support, from middle school to high school.
"Our avatars will have a life, a personality, a story, a school curriculum. They could even have a sense of humor", says Jean-Marc de Féty, CEO of Concorde AI. "There are very few scientific limits. It's just a question of time and money. It's going to go very far", enthuses this 59-year-old Master of Science holder from Mines Paris, who worked in the world of finance and video games in the 1980s.
Samantha is a prototype of an intelligent avatar, imagined in June by four Master of Science holders from Mines Paris. They recently launched the start-up Concorde AI, specializing in training assisted by generative AI. Samantha's appearance is realistic, her voice a little monotonous. She is not the only character offered by the company. The catalog allows you to make your choice based on several criteria: gender, ethnic origin, clothing style, but also, possibly, personality. This is where the start-up wants to make a difference, in a market where innovations in the field of training, education and academic support are flourishing. The company Edailabs thus offers, with the Klea AI Teacher application, to learn English with an avatar that has the features of an animated character. Eliott, for his part, is a small robot specialized in support, from middle school to high school.
"Our avatars will have a life, a personality, a story, a school curriculum. They could even have a sense of humor", says Jean-Marc de Féty, CEO of Concorde AI. "There are very few scientific limits. It's just a question of time and money. It's going to go very far", enthuses this 59-year-old Master of Science holder from Mines Paris, who worked in the world of finance and video games in the 1980s.
"Immersive Narration"
For the time being, the start-up is chaining meetings with Axa, Crédit Agricole, Dacia, Renault and Vinci Energies, to whom it offers tailor-made training. It aims at professional training for companies, and their financial windfall. But it is also looking at higher education, grandes écoles and the National Education system. "One day, our avatars will be delivered at a low cost to modest families to offer them academic support", summarizes Marc de Féty.
"Our project is to integrate more cognitive aspects into what until now appeared to be simply algorithmic. The idea is to model the brain of a learner and to propose a teacher avatar that will behave in an appropriate manner", explains the entrepreneur, who has approached a leading university institution in the field.
AI or the great promise of educational renewal? Like others, Jean-Marc de Féty believes in it wholeheartedly. "It will change the face of the world", he says. In this new fantasy world, teachers could well be replaced by avatars boosted by AI. A godsend at a time when the French National Education system is facing a deep recruitment crisis and a drop in student levels.
"AI-generated teachers can bring diversity (...) and even immersive storytelling", Pan Hui, a professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), told AFP in May 2024, shortly after his institution launched digital avatars, including physicist Albert Einstein and economist John Nash, as well as computer-generated lecturers. The Hong Kong professor explained that AI could address the staff shortage. He also believed that the reliability of AI-generated teachers could surpass that of their human colleagues in the future.
"These avatars will be assistants, complements to the real professor, also predicts Jean-Marc de Féty. Obviously, safeguards are needed. If we touch on delicate subjects, we will have to surround ourselves with ethics committees. As soon as you use cutting-edge technology, you are playing with fire", he concludes, urging us not to let Gafam "take over the subject".
"Our project is to integrate more cognitive aspects into what until now appeared to be simply algorithmic. The idea is to model the brain of a learner and to propose a teacher avatar that will behave in an appropriate manner", explains the entrepreneur, who has approached a leading university institution in the field.
AI or the great promise of educational renewal? Like others, Jean-Marc de Féty believes in it wholeheartedly. "It will change the face of the world", he says. In this new fantasy world, teachers could well be replaced by avatars boosted by AI. A godsend at a time when the French National Education system is facing a deep recruitment crisis and a drop in student levels.
"AI-generated teachers can bring diversity (...) and even immersive storytelling", Pan Hui, a professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), told AFP in May 2024, shortly after his institution launched digital avatars, including physicist Albert Einstein and economist John Nash, as well as computer-generated lecturers. The Hong Kong professor explained that AI could address the staff shortage. He also believed that the reliability of AI-generated teachers could surpass that of their human colleagues in the future.
"These avatars will be assistants, complements to the real professor, also predicts Jean-Marc de Féty. Obviously, safeguards are needed. If we touch on delicate subjects, we will have to surround ourselves with ethics committees. As soon as you use cutting-edge technology, you are playing with fire", he concludes, urging us not to let Gafam "take over the subject".