Harvard Business School aims to expand its reach and relies on AI avatars to provide personalized feedback.
These avatars were created by a startup called HeyGen and are included in the eight-week, $699 HBS Foundry bootcamp for entrepreneurs. While the program offers live sessions with instructors each week, it is an AI avatar that provides feedback during practice pitches and board meetings.
New York Times reporter Sarah Kessler put this to the test herself by pitching an AI-generated copy of Flybridge Capital co-founder Jeff Basgang. Apparently, neither the real Ugly Gang nor his imitators were impressed by her plan to build an “Uber for bananas,” but Kessler said the virtual version had a visibly frozen grin on her face during her pitch.
Project director Katharina Rings said they initially envisioned the AI component as something akin to a chatbot. But after HBS released the trial, students said they wanted a more guided experience.
And while some college students aren’t shy about expressing their negative feelings toward AI, Foundry participants told Kessler that they like avatars. As for Bussgang, he acknowledged that his digital copy is a little “creepy,” but said, “My students love it.”
