An AI startup will soon be able to convert student textbooks into cinematic video lessons.
Key Details
- Tech startup Prof Jim is launching an artificial-intelligence (AI) program that will convert textbooks into videos in one of the first practical applications of AI in education.
- The videos will include avatar instructors and assessments.
- Short-form videos like those found on YouTube are increasingly popular among younger students. Around 85% of Gen-Z students use videos to learn new skills.
- Prof Jim’s technology uses imagery and eye-catching presentations to teach lessons to students.
- Through the generated avatars, characters from history like George Washington Carver and Shakespeare can teach their lessons to the students.
Why it’s news
Prof Jim is currently working with both educators and textbook publishers to find the best way to convert written material into a visual presentation. After Prof Jim creates the base lesson, educators can alter the lessons through revisions.
These AI-generated courses can also be much more cost effective than video courses completed using real-life professors.
“Producing a high-quality course can cost as much as $25,000 to $150,000 and can take professors weeks in front of a camera,” says Avalanche VC managing partner Katelyn Donnelly. “With Prof Jim, the cost and time investment can be reduced by an order of magnitude—and look very professional, if not more so.”
The program has already run beta testing at Texas middle-school Paragon Prep where it received high praise.
The developers of Prof Jim imagine it as a tool teachers can use to enhance lessons and create more time for focused attention in the needed courses. Some educators have added that the tools could be helpful when teaching students with low attention spans and learning disabilities.