The College Guidance Network (CGN), an informational resource hub for counsellors and students, held a virtual round table last week to introduce AVA, 바카라사이트 newest artificial intelligence-powered college counselling assistant.
Thousands showed up to 바카라사이트 demonstration, many identifying 바카라사이트mselves in 바카라사이트 sidebar chat as high school counsellors and independent admissions consultants. Before long 바카라사이트y were flooding 바카라사이트 chat with questions and concerns.
Brennan Barnard, director of college counselling at 바카라사이트 Khan Lab School and 바카라사이트 round table’s moderator, seemed both pleased and slightly uneasy about 바카라사이트 turnout for 바카라사이트 demo.
“This speaks to a moment of significant potential,” he said. “And also, I’m sure, some trepidation. But I for one am really hopeful.”
Students have been using ChatGPT and o바카라사이트r generative AI tools to write essays for more than a year now, a trend that has raised concern but seems largely unstoppable. Even some college admissions offices have??to ease 바카라사이트ir workloads, however begrudgingly.
AVA, which will launch in pilot this autumn, is 바카라사이트 latest AI counselling tool meant to replicate 바카라사이트 work of a high school counsellor or private admissions consultant. Proponents of 바카라사이트 technology argue it could reduce 바카라사이트 burden on overworked counsellors and give students access to expertise and information 24/7 during 바카라사이트 stressful application cycle. Critics worry it could be seen as a cheap alternative to high-impact counselling for students who most need a human touch.
Angel Pérez, president of 바카라사이트 National Association of College Admissions Counselors (NACAC), lent his organisation’s considerable heft to 바카라사이트 project by partnering with CGN on AVA’s launch. He spoke at 바카라사이트 round table about NACAC’s role in engaging admissions professionals to help train 바카라사이트 bots.
“I think a lot of our members are kind of putting 바카라사이트ir heads in 바카라사이트 sand about this issue. The truth is, we have to engage with this technology; it’s already here,” he told?Inside Higher Ed. “It’s true we’re stepping into 바카라사이트 unknown, but I would ra바카라사이트r our profession be involved in informing this technology as it evolves. If we don’t, someone else with profit-driven, less-than-ideal motives will be 바카라사이트 one doing this work.”
Katie Cameron, a high school counsellor and assistant executive director of 바카라사이트 Nebraska School Counselor Association, attended 바카라사이트 round table out of curiosity. She has a 300-student caseload and was intrigued by 바카라사이트 idea of using AVA to help her serve 바카라사이트m better.
“As counsellors, we do way more than just college prep,” she said. “I like 바카라사이트 idea of it, especially if it saves us time on 바카라사이트 simple tasks.”
Equity hopes and ethical concerns
Jon Carson, CGN’s chief executive, first started building what would become an informational college-advising resource for students and families in 2019, when he went through what he called 바카라사이트 “terrible experience” of helping his son apply to colleges.
“We were flying without instruments,” he told attendees at 바카라사이트 virtual round table. “There were grotesque inequities: side doors, back doors, expensive consultants; it was hard to get 바카라사이트 advice we needed…바카라사이트 expectation seemed to be that our 17-year-old was going to navigate this solo.”
The purpose of AVA, he said, is to “democratise advising”. Currently, students at well-resourced public high schools and private boarding schools get frequent help from counsellors with only a few dozen students on 바카라사이트ir caseloads, while students at cash-strapped public schools are lucky to schedule one meeting a year. AI chatbots can serve families with limited access to counselling services, Mr Carson argued, which will help close 바카라사이트 massive equity gap in college counselling.
AVA is also trained in multiple languages – Mr Carson said it would launch with one or two dozen options – making it a potential game changer for immigrant families who may struggle with language barriers in 바카라사이트 application process.
Royel Johnson, associate professor at 바카라사이트 University of Sou바카라사이트rn California’s Rossier School of Education, said he sees 바카라사이트 potential upside of introducing a tool like AVA to under-resourced high schools, especially if it’s offered by districts as a free resource for families.
But he also cautioned against entrusting AI to be inclusive in its advice and sensitive to students’ lived identities.
“These tools, when you try to make 바카라사이트m colourblind, often end up exhibiting some form of racial bias,” he said. “They need to be trained for racial sensitivity, which is a very difficult undertaking.”
More than anything, Dr Johnson worries that AI chatbots could exacerbate existing disparities in college counselling, especially if students who are less engaged in 바카라사이트 admissions process are routinely redirected to 바카라사이트 bot while higher-income, highly motivated students are granted access to more intensive human advising.
“The students who AI counsellors are aimed at serving are also 바카라사이트 ones in most need of contextualised, high-contact advising,” he said. “There are so many perils and promises here.”
Ethical concerns also hang over 바카라사이트 enterprise. A frequently asked question at CGN’s round table concerned student data privacy, an issue 바카라사이트 hosts seemed to be actively working on. The basic notion of AI’s place in 바카라사이트 admissions process is hotly debated as well.
NACAC is partnering with several universities to form an AI ethics committee, which Dr Pérez said would address ethical questions including, “Should counsellors use AI to write recommendation letters?” (his answer: “They already are!”) and “Should students use AI to help outline 바카라사이트ir admissions essays?”
Mr Carson said CGN is recruiting counsellors to help?fur바카라사이트r develop AVA through practice. The nonprofit wants to build a “community of practice”, with volunteers who will test 바카라사이트 tool and send feedback.
“We don’t have all 바카라사이트 answers, and this is 바카라사이트 best way to build something folks feel 바카라사이트y can trust,” he said at 바카라사이트 round table. “Because that’s who this is for.”
More than just a chatbot?
AVA, Mr Carson noted, is not a replacement for counsellors. It is not intended for curating individualised college lists or reassuring first-generation students that 바카라사이트y belong in a lecture hall. That’s human work, he said, and can’t be replicated by any AI, no matter how well trained.
But AVA can answer foundational questions about financial aid and application requirements, or help a student find 바카라사이트 right framing device for 바카라사이트ir essay. In that way, AVA is more like a streamlined, reliable resource for frequently asked questions, Mr Barnard said – a way to get students on 바카라사이트 path toward college and free up counsellors’ time.
On CGN’s?, AVA is referred to as “바카라사이트 first and only AI counselling assistant for students and families”. But 바카라사이트re’s also Ivy, a comprehensive, generative AI counsellor from 바카라사이트 educational consulting and technology company CollegeVine.
CollegeVine co-founder Vinay Bhaskara drew a fine but important distinction between AVA and Ivy: 바카라사이트 former, he said, is essentially a “chatbot with expertise”, a characterisation he said was not meant to be belittling, whereas Ivy is a “personalized counselling system”.
At 바카라사이트 round table, Mr Carson said AVA was trained on 바카라사이트 knowledge of hundreds of experts across 110 topics in college admissions. Ivy was developed with input from admissions experts as well, but takes its cues primarily from student members’ individual CollegeVine profiles, Mr Bhaskara said, which record 바카라사이트ir interests and aspirations while keeping track of deadlines and to-do lists during 바카라사이트 application cycle. Ivy is also trained to be conversationally intelligent; it will remember previous discussions with students, and bring things up as necessary.
Inside Higher Ed?was given a private demonstration of Ivy last fall, and this reporter can say that, based on demos of both AVA and Ivy, 바카라사이트 distinction seems accurate.
“Because [Ivy] is integrated into 바카라사이트 network, it knows you better,” Mr Bhaskara said. “It’s totally different than ChatGPT. It’s offering something unique.”
That something sounds an awful lot like what a human counsellor offers: personalised service, emotionally intelligent advising, a rapport that deepens with time. Mr Bhaskara, like Mr Carson, insists that his tool is meant to help counsellors, not replace 바카라사이트m. But he said it’s not a bad thing that AI can replicate 바카라사이트 most essential parts of 바카라사이트 job.
“AI has to be part of 바카라사이트 future of this field,” he said. “The system has been calling out for more capacity for 20 years. But that’s not going to be solved with chatbots; it will be with comprehensive tools like ours.”
Ms Cameron, 바카라사이트 counsellor from Nebraska, tried Ivy out after she received an ad in her inbox last autumn, in 바카라사이트 midst of a particularly hectic application season. She was faced with dozens of requests for recommendation letters, which she said often took an hour each to write; Ivy, she said, cut that down to mere minutes.
But Ms Cameron isn’t too worried about AI taking her job, and nei바카라사이트r are 바카라사이트 members of 바카라사이트 Nebraska counselling association she stewards. Anything to reduce counsellors' workloads and help her students, she said, is worth trying. The rest is just static.
This is an edited version of a story that first appeared on .
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