Universities Deploy AI-Generated Professor Avatars, Raising IP and Teaching Effectiveness Questions

Harvard Business School’s eight-week Foundry course uses AI-generated video avatars of seven instructors, created by HeyGen, to let entrepreneurs practice pitches and board meetings. At Imperial College, professor David Shrier launched a digital replica named “Davatar” in January, which now supports a class that grew from 78 to roughly 200 students. Program leaders say avatars create a sense of real-person interaction and help students appear calmer, yet Harvard lacks longitudinal studies to confirm educational benefits.

Faculty such as Enrique Dans and the American Association of University Professors caution that AI avatars raise intellectual-property concerns and may be deployed without teachers’ input. Legislative measures in the United States and the European Union are beginning to address the use of synthetic likenesses, while advocates like Jeff Bussgang argue the technology has universal applicability across university settings.