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U.S. News reported on April 23, 2026 that Boise State University is offering an asynchronous course called "Applications of Artificial Intelligence" taught by an AI-generated avatar of the instructor. The avatar walks students through how AI is shaping work, creativity, and decision-making. The class is asynchronous, which means students can watch and learn at their own pace.
My first reaction was curiosity, not alarm. I run a bootcamp with human teachers. I have also seen the value of well-made video courses. Let me share a teacher's honest take on what this news means, especially for international students and busy working adults who learn English as a second language.
The Boise State story
The Boise State course uses an AI avatar of a real professor. The avatar delivers lectures that the professor scripted. Students can revisit segments, pause, and replay. The asynchronous format fits around work, family, and time-zone constraints. A separate U.S. poll from the same week found strong public support for international students studying in the U.S., with 76 percent saying it is a good thing. The student-support poll and the AI-course news landed in the same 48-hour window, and I think the pairing is meaningful.
What makes an AI avatar different from a regular video
A recorded lecture is static. An AI avatar can be updated without re-filming. When the course material changes next semester, only the script needs to change. This lowers the cost of keeping a course current, especially in a fast-moving field like AI.
Why this matters for international students
Many of my students at Precision AI Academy are international. English is their second, third, or fourth language. A few thoughts on what the Boise State model can offer them.
Pause, rewind, replay. When you are learning technical content in a second language, being able to pause a lecture is a gift. You can look up a word. You can replay a sentence. The live classroom cannot match this.
Captions and translation. AI avatars often ship with high-quality captions, and modern browsers can translate captions on the fly. An Indonesian student can effectively watch the lecture in Bahasa while the English text runs below. That is a real accessibility win.
No fear of judgment. Asking questions in a full classroom can feel scary when you are not sure how a word is pronounced. An AI tutor connected to the course will answer questions privately, at your pace, without social friction. This lowers the barrier to asking, and asking questions is the single fastest way to learn.
Where AI teaching shines and where it fails
Let me be honest about both sides.
Where AI teaching shines: foundational content, reference material, repeated explanation, 24-hour availability, consistency across cohorts, and accessibility in many languages. If the goal is to deliver information accurately and patiently, AI is already very good.
Where AI teaching struggles: reading the room, adjusting in real time to a confused face, encouraging a discouraged student, modeling judgment under uncertainty, and all the informal mentoring that happens in the margins of a classroom. Those moments cannot yet be replicated by an avatar. A good human teacher sees when one student needs a different metaphor and when another student needs a five-minute break to process something emotional.
What only a human teacher can give
I want to speak personally here. I teach because I believe teaching is a calling. When a student is struggling, sometimes they do not need more information. They need someone to look them in the eye and say, "you can do this." That moment cannot be scripted. It has to come from a person who is actually watching the student and actually cares about how they are doing.
AI teaching tools are helpers. They are not the whole teacher. My own practice at Precision AI Academy is to pair human instructors with AI tools. The instructor leads the class, reads the room, and connects with students individually. The AI is on standby for 24/7 tutoring, reference, and practice questions. That combination is stronger than either alone.
The hybrid future that is already here
Looking ahead, the smart schools will not pick one side. They will build hybrids. Human-led small classes for community and motivation. AI-generated reference materials for flexibility and accessibility. Human office hours for emotional connection and individualized guidance. AI tutors for late-night problem-solving when the human is asleep. This is not a hypothetical future. It is being built right now.
Three questions to ask before signing up for any AI-delivered course
- Is a real human checking the course quality and updating the script when the field changes?
- Is there a way to reach a human when I get stuck?
- Does the school publish outcomes — job placements, project portfolios, honest data — so I can judge if it works?
A word to the student reading this
Whether you are thinking about Boise State, my bootcamp, or a free YouTube channel, the best decision depends on how you learn. If you are very disciplined and self-directed, an asynchronous AI-led course may suit you. If you need deadlines, cohort pressure, and a real person to answer when you are lost, a live class is worth the extra cost. Most students do best with a mix.
What I want you to take away is this. Tools change. Good teaching does not. Clear explanation, patient listening, honest feedback, and care for the student are not generated by AI or by humans alone. They are the result of someone choosing to show up well. That choice is still yours.
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