The Potential of Learning With AI-Generated Pedagogical Agents in Instructional Videos

With the recent advancement in technology, generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) can produce hyper-realistic multimedia content, such as audio, text, images, and videos. Although this technology has raised great concerns about its misuse and harmful applications, it holds great potential to revolutionize traditional ways of teaching and learning. The use of GenAI in education has increased markedly, however, pedagogical research on this rapidly emerging technology is yet to be studied extensively. There is an urgent need to investigate the unexamined potential of this technology. Therefore, this ongoing research will explore the potential of AI-generated pedagogical agents (PA), or avatars, in instructional videos to facilitate learning. The effects of the type of PA (AI-generated, real-life human), and voice (AI-generated, human voice) on an individual's learning outcomes, cognitive load, motivation, and attention will be studied. Findings from a pilot study provide some preliminary evidence that PA appearance influences learners' retention and cognitive load, but not attention. The type of PA influenced learners' perception of the agent's ability to facilitate learning, its human-like qualities, and its engagement level. However, it did not affect its credibility. This ongoing work will contribute to the growing understanding of the impact of AI in education, provide evidence of the efficacy of AI-generated PAs in instructional videos for learning, and narrow the gap between human-computer interaction research and education.