Harvard Is Selling a $699 Course Taught by A.I. Clones of Its Faculty
New York Times · LC · trust 37/100
To create a new bootcamp for entrepreneurs, Harvard Business School made A.I. avatars of its instructors.
Listen · 14:58 min Share full article The Foundry Bootcamp includes interactive A.I. video avatars of Harvard Business School instructors, like this one of the venture capitalist Jeff Bussgang. Credit... The New York Times By Sarah Kessler
For a reporting experiment, I am playing the role of a hopelessly delusional tech founder. As I outline my plan to build an “Uber for bananas,” his calm, polite smile doesn’t move. Neither do the small shadows cast by the drape of his shirt. His shoulders hover back and forth just slightly — and a little too consistently. Because while it looks like I’m talking with Jeff Bussgang, the co-founder of Flybridge Capital and a senior lecturer at Harvard Business School, I’m actually talking with his A.I. generated video avatar.
When I speak with the real Bussgang — who, much like his A.I. counterpart, is not impressed with my idea for faster banana delivery — he concedes that the simulation is at least a little “creepy.” But, he says, “My students love it.”
Bussgang is one of several teachers at Harvard Business School who volunteered to help create A.I. clones of themselves for a new eight-week entrepreneurship boot camp called H.B.S. Foundry. Harvard has tested the product, which costs $699, with more than 100 universities across 50 states.
Foundry guides participants through a framework for starting a company, from refining the idea to pitching it to investors and customers. Along with Harvard Business School content, its virtual work space includes a community of peers and access to A.I. agents — some intended to “represent” instructors. It also features video call simulations for practicing pitches, sales calls and board meetings with instructor A.I. avatars, like the one of Bussgang.
Experienced founders, investors, and Harvard Business School faculty lead weekly live sessions, but the purpose of the online portal is to guide students through A.I. resources and content from the business school for building a start-up.
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