Google Public Sector and the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business have launched an advanced Virtual Teaching Assistant pilot program aimed at improving personalized learning and enlightening educators on artificial intelligence in the classroom.

The AI technology, aided by Google’s Gemini chatbot, provides students with all-hours access to support and self-directed learning. The Virtual TA represents the next generation of educational chatbots, serving as a sophisticated AI learning assistant that instructors can use to modify their specific lessons and teaching styles.

The Virtual TA facilitates self-paced learning for students, provides on-demand explanations of complex course concepts, guides them through problem-solving, and acts as a practice partner. It’s designed to foster critical thinking by never giving away answers, ensuring students actively work toward solutions.

The Virtual TA has been piloted in a range of business courses at U-M and other institutions, including financial technology, operations strategy, operations analytics and statistics. Early results of the pilot program indicate greater student engagement and that instructors are gaining deeper insights into the learning patterns of students.

The tool provides real-time data on how students are using the tool and their commonly asked questions about course content so instructors can simplify information in teaching materials.

“By partnering with Google Public Sector, we’re integrating today’s leading technology to improve the educational experience for our students,” said Jun Li, Ross professor of technology and operations. “We’ve seen early indications of success in leveraging the AI-powered Virtual TA and look forward to further integrating this tool to advance learning.”

Ross will incorporate insights from the Virtual TA pilot into a research study across a wide network of leading higher education institutions, aimed at unlocking the positive impact of GenAI technology in higher education. The study will involve about 9,000 students, 72 courses and 26 schools, and is co-led by Ross and Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Li is co-directing the study with Andrew Wu, an associate professor of technology and operations. She stresses the goal is to develop a customizable AI tutor that encourages independent thinking and boosts student involvement.

“Recent research indicates that using GenAI tools without guidance can negatively affect learning because they often give students easy or incorrect answers, preventing true understanding,” Li said. “However, this is intended to foster learning, not replace it.”

The study was inspired by U-M Maizey, a platform used for academic advising, scheduling and administrative functions. Maizey provides students with access to resources and course materials and helps faculty and advisors manage appointments, track academic progress and collaborate on academic planning.

This will be one of the largest deployments of an AI agent for the education sector to better understand how colleges and universities can adopt AI, officials say.

“As a critical partner to leading education institutions, Google Public Sector is proud to pioneer this personalized learning approach to improve educational delivery, provide early identification for intervention, and help educators solve some of their most pressing challenges,” said Chris Hein, field chief technology officer of Google Public Sector.

“The Virtual TA is a prime example of how a customizable, Gemini-powered solution can advance the future of learning and help train the next generation workforce.”

Google Public Sector is a division of Google that helps government agencies and educational institutions achieve their missions through digital transformation, improved security, advanced AI and cutting-edge technology.

To learn more about how Ross is advancing AI research to improve student learning and provide business professionals with the skills needed to use AI effectively in their jobs, visit AI at Michigan Ross.

For more information on how Google Cloud’s AI technology is accelerating digital transformation for government agencies and educational institutions, visit Google AI for Public Sector.