Technology

Jonathan Jansen, Stellenbosch University

AI has split academic institutions into two camps: those eager to embrace it as a transformative tool for teaching and learning, and those who ban it outright, fearing plagiarism and the erosion of critical thinking.

In the psychology faculty at North West University (NWU), a group of Master’s students is gathered around a computer analysing an AI conversation. The conversation is between one of the students and an AI chatbot trained to simulate a range of patient personalities and syndromes, from an anxious teenager to a grieving parent or someone struggling with addiction. Instead of role-playing with classmates, the bot lets students test their skills and apply their knowledge without having to step into a consulting room with a real patient.