Professors in Phased Retirement Are to Participate in AI Pilot Program
Professors in Phased Retirement Are to Participate in AI Pilot Program
Publish Date: 2026-04-01 01:25:00
Source Domain: amherststudent.com
- The Association of Amherst Students (AAS) has approved a new AI pilot program called “Virtual Faculty Engine,” aimed at professors in phased retirement, after a 35-20 faculty vote in favor.
- The initiative intends to create online avatars of professors for students’ interactions, featuring avatar face scans and three hours per week of audio recordings to imitate their voices.
- The aim of the program is to preserve retiring professors’ educational experiences and their exclusive research for future generations.
- Amherst College has purchased over 500 terabytes of RAM and plans to construct a small data center near Book & Plow Farm to support the program.
- The new data center construction is planned to be completed by 2032, although AI operations will temporarily continue through Frost Library’s computing operations.
- Some faculty, like Johnson A. Chapel Professor of Geology LeBrun Jane, are excited about the program’s long-term educational benefits, while others criticize it as detrimental to the college’s legacy.
- The plans and additional details are scheduled to be shared in a school-wide email on Friday, following the ongoing discussions and initial approval.
