GenAI Studio: News, Tools, and Teaching & Learning FAQs
These sixty minute, bi-monthly sessions – facilitated by Technologists from the Learning Technology Innovation Centre (LTIC) – are designed for faculty and staff at UBC who are using, or thinking about using, Generative AI tools as part of their teaching, researching, or daily work. Every 2 weeks, we discuss recent generative AI news, highlight a specific tool for use within teaching and learning, and then hold a question and answer session for attendees.
They run on Zoom on Wednesdays from 1pm – 2pm and you can register for upcoming events on the CTLT Events Website.
News of the Week
Each session we discuss several new items that happened in the Generative AI space over the past 14 days. There’s usually a flood of new AI-adjacent news every week – as this industry is moving so fast – so we highlight news articles which are relevant to the UBC community.
This week in AI highlighted advances in productivity, video and audio generation, and understanding AI text quality. Microsoft introduced Agent Mode in Office, letting users automate complex workflows with conversational prompts, breaking tasks into step-by-step reasoning using a multi-model architecture. OpenAI released Sora 2, a next-generation AI for video and audio generation, alongside a social app where users can create and reimagine realistic AI-generated scenes. ChatGPT Pulse launched as a proactive assistant, delivering personalized updates and recommendations from user data and integrated apps. Researchers also proposed a new framework to measure AI “slop,” providing a taxonomy for understanding low-quality AI-generated text. Finally, the Prompt Optimizer for GPT-5 helps users refine prompts for clearer, more reliable AI outputs.
Here’s this week’s news:
[This Week’s Recording Will Be Uploaded Here Once It Has Been Processed]Microsoft Introduces “Agent Mode” for Office: Automating Workflows with Conversational AI
Microsoft has just released its new feature called Agent Mode within its Office suite, allowing users to generate complex documents, analyses, and presentations with conversational prompts. Agent Mode breaks down jobs into sequential subtasks, showing its reasoning throughout each step of the process. The underlying system follows a multi-model architecture combining OpenAI’s GPT-5 with models from Anthropic. The feature is being first rolled out to Microsoft 365 Copilot users on the web versions of Word and Excel, with desktop support expected to follow soon.
Measuring AI “Slop” in Text: A New Framework for Diagnosing Low‑Quality AI Output
Researchers have developed a new way to study what people often call “AI slop,” a colloquial term for low-quality or generic AI-generated text. The study introduces a comprehensive taxonomy of “slop” through expert interviews in natural language processing, writing and philosophy. They identify key dimensions, such as coherence, relevance, and clarify, that contribute to perceptions of low-quality AI text. Their findings show that while existing tools struggle to detect human assessments of “slop,” this framework offers a clearer path for understanding and improving the quality of AI-generated text.
Read the Full Study Here
OpenAI Releases Sora 2: A Leap in Video and Audio Generation
OpenAI has released Sora 2, a major advancement in AI-driven video and audio generation. Building on its predecessor, the model creates highly realistic and physically accurate scenes, capturing complex actions that follow more closely to the laws of physics. Alongside the release, OpenAI launched a new social IOS app, Sora, powered by Sora 2, where users can create and remix AI-generated videos, even inserting themselves or friends through a cameo feature. The company highlights the app’s built-in safeguards, designed to prioritize wellbeing and foster positive community engagement.
Read the Full Page Here
ChatGPT Pulse: A Proactive AI Assistant for Daily Updates
OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Pulse, a new feature that delivers personalized research and updates from a user’s chat history, preferences, and optional integrations like Google Calendar and Gmail. It presents curated insights as daily visual cards, ranging from practical reminders to tailored recommendations, all shaped by user feedback. As an example, OpenAI noted that if you’re travelling to a new city, Pulse could showcase recommendations for local restaurants or events in the area.
Read the Full Page Here
Prompt Optimizer for GPT-5
The Prompt Optimizer helps users refine their prompts, to ensure clearer, and more reliable responses from GPT-5. It also explains the reasoning behind each change, guiding users to create more concise and effective prompts.
Explore the Prompt Optimizer
Questions and Answers
Each studio ends with a question and answer session whereby attendees can ask questions of the pedagogy experts and technologists who facilitate the sessions. We have published a full FAQ section on this site. If you have other questions about GenAI usage, please get in touch.
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Assessment Design using Generative AI
Generative AI is reshaping assessment design, requiring faculty to adapt assignments to maintain academic integrity. The GENAI Assessment Scale guides AI use in coursework, from study aids to full collaboration, helping educators create assessments that balance AI integration with skill development, fostering critical thinking and fairness in learning.
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How can I use GenAI in my course?
In education, the integration of GenAI offers a multitude of applications within your courses. Presented is a detailed table categorizing various use cases, outlining the specific roles they play, their pedagogical benefits, and potential risks associated with their implementation. A Complete Breakdown of each use case and the original image can be found here. At […]