Do We Perceive Virtual Teachers as Human? An EEG Experiment Proposal for Investigating the Cognition of AI Teaching Expectations

Colin Conrad (), Nana Boakye and Aaron J. Newman
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Colin Conrad: Dalhousie University
Nana Boakye: Dalhousie University
Aaron J. Newman: Dalhousie University

A chapter in Information Systems and Neuroscience, 2025, pp 57-64 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Advances in generative artificial intelligence (AI) have made virtual agents ubiquitous, leading to widespread disruption of higher education. Many are asking whether these agents will replace educators altogether. In this paper, we explore some of the literature on virtual agents and past work from the educational technology literature to outline one of the key limitations of educational virtual agents: their inability to generate social presence. We then provide reasons why the N400 event-related potential (ERP) may be sensitive to aspects of social presence and thus reflect associated perceptions of virtual teachers and virtual agents broadly. We conclude with a proposal for an experiment which could establish cognitive differences, as measured by N400 amplitude differences and their relationship to Cloze probability of phrase endings. This would also suggest that user expectations are important considerations in the effective design of virtual teachers.

Keywords: Artificial intelligence; Human-centered artificial intelligence; Educational technology; Virtual agents; Virtual teachers; Social presence; Event-related potential; N400 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:lnichp:978-3-032-00815-2_5

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-00815-2_5

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