This Michigan University Will See Its First AI Students Enroll In 2024
The Bulldog fam is about to get even bigger.
Each year Ferris State University welcomes nearly 10,000 students and they've just announced they're adding two more, but what's so special about these students in particular?
They don't exist!
One of only three schools in the nation to offer an Artificial Intelligence (AI) undergraduate program, "Ann" and "Fry" will begin their academic career in the Spring of 2024.
According to WZZM13 the university announced the AI students' enrollment after hosting its recent inaugural "AI Day" event. But I can't be the only one confused as to what this even means, right? What does a "virtual student" even do anyway?
About Ann & Fry
I'm a Millennial who grew up with computers, but even I am confused by most technology at this point. One day things were normal and then suddenly things like ChatGPT and AI image generators popped up overnight.
What's craziest to me about this whole scenario is these two students even have their own backstory! Using real student experiences faculty crafted backstories for their virtual students which WZZM says,
will help the virtual students complete tasks and declare a major...The two virtual students will participate in hybrid classes by completing assignments, interacting with students and professors, and even eventually picking a major.
They'll even pick their own major?! Wow. The future really is now.
The university says their goal is to monitor the virtual students' interactions with fellow classmates and professors for potential use in other educational settings. As Ferris State professor Molly Cook explained,
The more we use artificial intelligence, we can see what it is capable of and how we can use it to do things more efficiently and effectively.
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