Kia in the Classroom: The Economics of Boldness in Teaching with AI. By Richard Sebaggala

On September 3, 2025, a lecture hall at Simon Fraser University hosted a moment that feels closer to science fiction than to the routines of academic life. Students gathered expecting a professor at the podium, but instead found two fingers waiting. One is Steve DiPaola, a familiar human presence, and beside him is Kia, three-dimensional artificial intelligence rendered with startling realism.

The digital figure meets the audience with a direct gaze, smiles at the right moment, and speaks in measured tones that carry the authority of an academic voice. The class is no longer a monologue delivered by a single lecturer but a dialogue between flesh and code, a human mind and its synthetic counterpart. For students who grew up with animated avatars and digital companions, Kia may not appear entirely alien. What makes the moment extraordinary is that it unfolds within a university classroom, one of the last places where knowledge has been carefully guarded by human authority.

The arrival of Kia is not a cautious step in educational technology but an unmistakable act of boldness. Around the world, universities hesitate to integrate AI openly, unsettled by fears of plagiarism, shallow assignments, or the erosion of genuine intellectual effort. DiPaola has chosen a different path. Rather than shielding his students from technology, he has brought it to the centre of inquiry, where the question is not whether AI exists, but whether it can belong at the core of teaching. Economists would call this innovation under criticism, a dynamic that has accompanied every major technological shift since the age of mechanization.

History shows that new tools are rarely welcomed without resistance. The typewriter was once distrusted, the calculator dismissed as the death of numeracy, and the personal computer regarded as a fad. Those who pressed forward despite the doubts gained more than a reputation for daring. They accumulated knowledge that others lacked, learning where the tools succeeded and where they fell short. Uncertainty became capital. DiPaola's decision to place Kia in the classroom follows this tradition. This idea is far from new; economists have long studied the strategic role of bold moves. The concept of first-move advantage, for instance, includes learning gains and control over resources. By facing skepticism now, he accepts reputational risk in exchange for insight. That willingness to trade risk for knowledge is what enables innovation to move forward.

Read the full article and other posts by Richard on his blog site here https://mythinklikeeconomist.blogspot.com/2025/08/in-classroom-economics-of-boldness-in.html?m=1