How I Use AI as a College Professor

Digging through open-source and royalty-free images, video and graphics is often a necessary, if not tedious, exercise in a college professor's day-to-day. Advances in artificial intelligence could be about to change all that.

Most professors I know would rather be in the classroom or working on an impactful project, but with increasing demands on teachers to craft learning experiences that have to compete with Roblox games and TikTok challenges for students' attention, eye-catching visuals have become a valuable tool in the teaching kit. 

Some professors use gifs to round out their presentations for lectures, hoping to keep students intrigued with looped memes and relatable imagery starring famous faces. Others, like me, have turned to AI tools as an on-demand source of relevant, bespoke visuals to give their lessons some extra oomph. 

Here's how a college professor can use AI to spice up any subject in any class, and a list of tools that could come in handy.

AI tools for teaching

Here are some tools I've found useful for presentations, lectures and visually engaging learning materials:

Midjourney: This text-to-image creation tool is hardy, versatile and frequently updated. I've used it to create images, graphics, sample logos and any other still visuals in my presentations to make something as dry as a marketing funnel pop. Mixio: This AI-powered tool creates websites from text prompts and has been my go-to for providing on-the-fly student portfolio examples.  Gamma: Gamma generates full presentations in seconds with all elements, including text, images, transitions and effects. I would never generate learning materials to use in class with Gamma, but it does help with building assignment elements, like setting realistic requirements on presentation length across many different subjects.

Gamma asks you questions prior to creating your slide deck.

Screenshot by Rachel Kane/CNET

AI in the classroom

Here are some specific ways I use AI in the classroom:

When you need to display diversity

Stock images are notoriously homogenous and much has been said and written about AI's own cultural bias, however these tools can be a gateway for exemplifying diversity if used correctly. 

Specifying diverse characters or using language tailored toward displaying diversity in imagery opens up the opportunity for students to see themselves in a variety of vocations, situations and learning materials they might otherwise not. 

For instance, many medical drawings feature predominantly white, male presenting bodies. Specifying different genders and ethnicities via AI prompts gives students a different perspective. Just make sure the elements in the imagery are accurate.

When the concept is complex

Some people are visual learners, while others pick up on things faster via narrative form, and others need to take a hands-on approach to fully grasp concepts. AI tools offer a broader set of options for explaining complex concepts than many traditional learning materials do, like textbooks and lectures. 

When the topic is just plain dry

There's only so many times you can show students a map of Eastern Europe without them zoning out. AI tools can be used to animate, add visual depth and fresh takes to topics that might cause students to turn their attention to easily accessible distractions. More intriguing visuals to supplement learning materials are a wonderful weapon in the attention wars.

Mixio creates websites from text prompts.

Screenshot by Rachel Kane/CNET

However you use these tools, remember to disclose your use of them to the students. Citing and noting the use of AI in your work sets an excellent example for students who want to take advantage of new, fun technology and applications and puts those who would try to take advantage of a teacher's naivety on notice. 

For more on AI in teaching, here's how I use AI to catch students using AI to cheat.