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Harvard AI Avatars Coach Entrepreneurs
23 Aug
Summary
- Harvard Business School utilizes AI avatars for entrepreneur coaching.
- These AI avatars provide feedback during practice pitches and meetings.
- Foundry bootcamp participants report positive experiences with the avatars.
Harvard Business School is integrating artificial intelligence avatars into its entrepreneurship education, specifically within the eight-week HBS Foundry bootcamp.
These AI avatars, developed by the startup HeyGen, are tasked with providing personalized feedback to participants during simulated practice pitches and board meetings. This approach moves beyond traditional instruction, offering a unique training environment for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Initial concepts for the AI component were more basic, akin to chatbots. However, following a trial, student feedback indicated a preference for a more structured and guided experience, leading to the current implementation of the AI avatars.
Despite potential reservations some students may have about AI, participants in the Foundry program have reported favorable views of the avatars. Even those, like co-founder Jeff Bussgang, who find their digital counterparts 'creepy,' acknowledge the positive reception and enthusiasm from their students.
