--- title: "Harvard Will Teach Students Using an AI Instructor Next Semester" description: "Starting in September, a popular intro-level coding course at Harvard University, CS50, will be taught by an AI professor." date: "2023-06-29" modified: "2023-06-29" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/harvard-ai-instructor" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai" - "education" - "large language models" - "the digest" --- # Harvard Will Teach Students Using an AI Instructor Next Semester ![Starting in September, a popular intro-level coding course at Harvard University, CS50, will be taught by an AI professor.]() *\Image: Getty Images\* ## Hey TeAIch Starting this fall, a popular intro-level coding course at Harvard University, CS50, will be taught by an AI instructor. You know, because Harvard [probably can't afford]() to pay human teachers. "Our own hope is that, through AI, we can eventually approximate a 1:1 teacher:student ratio for every student in CS50, as by providing them with software-based tools that, 24/7, can support their learning at a pace and in a style that works best for them individually," CS50 professor David Malan [told the university's student newspaper](), *The Harvard Crimson*. Per the *Crimson*, Malan further clarified to the paper that course staff are "currently experimenting with both GPT 3.5 and GPT 4 models," and said the course has always incorporated new software, meaning that employing an AI teacher is just an "evolution of that tradition." All fine and good, and a healthy student-teacher ratio is certainly important. But considering that [neither GPT-3.5 nor GPT-4 is terribly reliable]() at spitting out structurally-sound code each and every time, the decision to provide students with an AI-powered coding prof is more than experimental — and paying students, it seems, will be the experimentees. ## Bit Iffy As the *Crimson* points out, CS50 is notably one of the most popular classes featured on edX, an online learning platform that was built in collaboration between MIT and Harvard and sold for a cool [$800 million]() last year. Speaking to the student paper, Malan did admit that "early incarnations" of AI programs are likely to "occasionally underperform or even err." Still, he reiterated his hope that the AI will help alleviate some course staff's busy work, thus freeing up time to interact with students one-on-one. “\[A\]ssessing, more qualitatively, the design of students' code has remained human-intensive," Malan told the paper. "Through AI, we hope to reduce that time spent, so as to reallocate \[teaching fellows'\] time toward more meaningful, interpersonal time with their students, akin to an apprenticeship model." Again, though, we can't stress enough how experimental this is, and while a pinch of healthy skepticism rarely hurts, it's not every day that you hear a professor basically tell you to take everything a different instructor says with a grain of salt. "We'll make clear to students that they should always think critically when taking in information as input," Malan told the *Crimson*, "be it from humans or software." **More on AI and education:** [*Bill Gates Says AI Will Be Teaching Kids to Read in 18 Months*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()