Bringing Characters to Life: How to Use AI Character Chatbots in the Classroom
Looking for creative ways to incorporate AI in your classroom instruction? Try an AI character chatbot!
🤖 What is an AI character chatbot?
An AI chatbot, in simple terms, is a type of AI capable of simulating human-like conversations. An AI character chatbot, then, is simply a type of chatbot that has been designed specifically to mimic the voice of real or fictional figures.
The goal of interacting with an AI character chatbot is to feel like you’re having a conversation with the persona it represents, whether that’s a historical icon, a literary character, or even just a generic figure from another era. Students can engage with the character by asking a series of questions, and the character will offer perspectives, anecdotes, and opinions as though they were the actual person responding. Pretty cool, huh?
🤔 Why use an AI character chatbot in your classroom?
Interactive, Personalized Learning: AI character chatbots can provide teachers a unique opportunity to facilitate interactive and personalized learning experiences, allowing students to explore new concepts or deepen their understanding of existing knowledge through an engaging AI-powered conversation. Students can explore historical context, literary themes, or other relevant subject matter in a fun and creative way.
Versatile & Adaptable: Another +1 for AI character chatbots is that they’re incredibly versatile and integrate seamlessly across various subjects and grade levels. Reading a class novel? Have students chat with the main character to learn more about the choices they made throughout the story. Studying ancient Rome? Invite students to chat with a Roman senator to learn about politics, laws, and daily life in the Roman Empire. The possibilities are exciting and endless.
Promotes Digital Literacy: Incorporating an AI character chatbot into your instruction can also help students learn how to use AI in a safe and responsible way. Many students are already familiar with or using AI chatbots for various reasons (some ethical and some not so much), so it’s a great opportunity for teachers to spark meaningful discussions about how AI chatbots work, how they can support learning, and what their capabilities and limitations are.
🖥️ What are some student-friendly AI character chatbots?
There are a lot of AI chatbots out there, but it’s important to note that not all of them are suitable for classroom integration. ChatGPT, for example, is arguably the most widely-known and utilized chatbot, but it isn’t intended for users under 13 and parental permission is required for users age 13-18. And because it’s not a platform designed for educational use, it does not comply with US data privacy laws such as COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act) and FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act). That’s why, despite its popularity, I would advise using one of the tools listed below with students instead.
Here are three AI tools that I’ve personally used and would recommend, based on their commitment to providing educational content and protecting student privacy:
⚙️ How SchoolAI Works
SchoolAI is a platform that allows teachers to create “spaces” where students interact with an AI chatbot on the assigned topic. Teachers can choose from thousands of existing spaces, many of which were created by other educators. Not all chatbots are specific “character chatbots”, but you won’t be disappointed with the variety.
Can’t find the character chatbot you’re looking for? Crafting your own space is a breeze with a straightforward, AI-powered setup process. Once you've picked or created your ideal space, launching it gives students a unique link for direct access to the chatbot, bypassing the need for student logins (which is always a plus!). Teachers also gain valuable insights into their students’ interactions through built-in summary and monitoring controls.
🔐 Privacy Policy
SchoolAI’s Privacy Policy states that they are COPPA and FERPA compliant and assures that “personal student data is not saved or used by any third parties to train or refine future models.”
⚙️ How MagicStudent Works
MagicSchool AI offers a suite of AI-powered tools for teachers (some of which I wrote about here: Magic School AI for Teachers: 5 Game-Changing Features), but they’ve recently leveled up their game by creating a student version called MagicStudent. You can access MagicStudent from your MagicSchool AI account homepage.
In MagicStudent, teachers can set up "rooms" that grant access to a curated selection of AI tools. Creating a room generates a unique link, allowing students to access the tools without needing to log in. One of these tools is a Character Chatbot. Students will need to tell the chatbot which character to embody, and then the conversation will begin. Like SchoolAI, teachers have access to summary and monitoring controls.
🔐 Privacy Policy
MagicSchool AI’s Privacy Policy states they are COPPA and FERPA compliant and have adopted “rigorous technical, administrative, and physical information security measures” to ensure user data privacy.
⚙️ How Byte Works
Byte by Codebreaker Inc. offers a simplistic chatbot platform for students. There is no account creation required on either the teacher or the student end, so accessing and using Byte is a breeze. Unlike SchoolAI or MagicStudent, however, there is no option for teachers to view chat summaries or insights. And since Byte is a general-use chatbot, students will need to prompt the chatbot to act as their desired character at the beginning of their conversation. This is easy to do in a sentence or two, but students may need specific directions or sentence starters to help them prep the chatbot. Still, it’s a great option if you don’t want to mess around with account creation or need any other bells and whistles.
🔐 Privacy Policy
Byte’s Terms of Service state they do not collect or share personal information.
📌 A Quick Note About Choosing AI Platforms
Navigating the world of AI platforms can be tricky, especially when it comes to ensuring student data privacy. Always peek at the privacy policies of any tool you’re considering to see how it handles student info, especially if it’s a platform that requires student logins. Make sure it's in compliance with laws like COPPA and FERPA that keep students' data safe, and that it does not engage in any red-flag behavior like personalized advertising. This step is key in choosing AI tools that not only enhance learning, but also maintain a secure and trustworthy environment for our students.
💡 What Are Some Ideas for Using Character Chatbots in the Classroom?
Here are some creative ways to incorporate character chatbots into your content area. Feel free to share any additional ideas in the comments!
📚 English Language Arts
Meet Literary Characters: Have students engage in conversations with chatbots embodying characters from their current reading. This interaction can deepen their understanding of character motivations, conflicts, and development.
Author Chats: Create an AI chatbot representing a famous author, allowing students to “speak” to brilliant minds like William Shakespeare, Maya Angelou, or Edgar Allan Poe. Students can ask about their writing process, their inspiration behind their most famous works, or their thoughts on themes and characters.
📜 History
Historical Interviews: Create chatbots representing historical figures for students to interview to gain insight into their daily life and the times in which they lived.
Time Travel Diaries: Students can "time travel" to different periods to discover the daily lives, challenges, and viewpoints of people from those eras.
🔭 Science
Ask a Scientist: Chatbots can take on the persona of famous scientists, allowing students to ask questions about their discoveries, the scientific process, and the impact of their work on our world today.
🌎 World Language
Cultural Ambassadors: Chatbots can represent people from countries where the target language is spoken, sharing information about their culture, traditions, and daily life to enhance language learning with cultural context.
🖼️ Art
Meet the Artist: Students can interact with chatbots emulating famous artists, learning about their life, influences, and techniques directly from the "artist" themselves.
🎙️ Journalism
Interview Practice: Use character chatbots to help students practice interviewing skills. Students can practice crafting questions, managing follow-ups, and navigating challenging responses.
Ask a Journalist: Students can seek editorial advice from famous journalists throughout history or chat with trailblazers in the field, such as the famous muckrakers of the early 20th century.
🍎 Instructional Strategies for Using an AI Chatbot
Okay, so you’ve got a great idea for an AI chatbot—now what?
Before we go, let’s take a quick minute to chat about instructional side of things. The technology is great and all, but how can we make sure everything goes smoothly when it’s introduced? How can we best prepare our students to get the most out of their interaction with the AI chatbot?
Here are a few tips and ideas to help you prepare for an effective integration.
1️⃣ Introducing the AI Chatbot to Students
Set Clear Objectives: Begin by explaining the purpose of using the chatbot. Clarify learning goals and how this tool will help achieve them. In other words, what do you hope students will gain from chatting with this particular AI persona?
Explain How Chatbots Work: You don’t need to be an AI expert or go into a ton of detail here, but it’s important that students have a basic understanding of how chatbots function.
In short, chatbots generate responses by predicting the most likely next word or phrase given the context of the conversation. It’s able to do this using the power of machine learning, a process that involves analyzing lots and lots of data to spot patterns and make decisions based on what it has learned from these patterns.
Because AI chatbot replies are essentially just educated guesses (albeit, very fancy educated guesses), they are not pulling from a database of verified facts and thus have no ability to fact check themselves. This matters because it's the reason AI chatbots can occasionally make mistakes or "hallucinate" — a term used in tech circles to describe when AI chatbots fabricate information.
Discuss Expectations and Etiquette: Outline how students should interact with the chatbot, emphasizing respectful and purposeful communication. Educate students on privacy practices and highlight the importance of not sharing personal information with the chatbot.
2️⃣ Preparing Students for the AI Chatbot
Question Formulation: Teach students how to formulate effective questions. Discuss open-ended vs. closed questions and how they can lead to more informative interactions. Remind students of the learning target and what you want them to gain from this interaction to help them brainstorm what questions they might want to ask.
Structured Activities: Consider incorporating a protocol or structured activity like a KWL chart. Prior to engaging with the chatbot, students can list what they Know and what they Want to know about the character or subject. This simple technique can help guide their interactions and focus their learning. When they’re done, they can revisit the chart to record what they’ve Learned.
3️⃣ Post-Interaction Reflection
Reflect on Responses: After interacting with the chatbot, have students reflect on the accuracy and helpfulness of the information provided. This can be done through class discussions, written reflections, or informal presentations.
Fact-Checking: Teach students the importance of fact-checking information obtained from the chatbot with credible sources. It’s important for students to understand that while AI can be a useful tool, it can also contain inaccurate, misleading, or biased information.
Personal Reflection: Encourage students to reflect on their learning experience, including what they found interesting, what challenges they faced, and how the chatbot enhanced their understanding of the topic. The visible thinking routine “I used to think…But now I think…” would work well here too.
Phew, that was a lot, but thanks for sticking with me. Please let me know in the comments if you found any of this helpful or have any other ideas for using AI character chatbots in your content area!