Authentic Presence & Digital Doubles

Description

Are you curious about using AI-generated videos in your online teaching? Video content can be used to humanize the online learning experience and/or support learning differences. However, creating and maintaining quality videos requires significant time investment.

Enter synthetic media – AI generated videos and voice narrations produced from a simple typed script. These videos can feature either generic AI avatars or create a "digital double" of the instructor. While synthetic media offers exciting possibilities for saving faculty time, it also raises important questions:

• How can we leverage synthetic media while still maintaining meaningful connections with our diverse student population?

• What is lost with synthetic media and gained with videos portraying an instructor's authentic presence?

• What are the practical and ethical considerations for using AI-generated content?

You'll also see a demonstration of how to create your own digital double video using just a script. Come discover whether this emerging technology could enhance your online teaching toolkit!

Synthetic Media - Video Tools

• HeyGen 

  • Account Info: A free account includes custom avatar creation (digital double) + 3 videos per month (each up to 3-minutes) + 500 avatars + 30 languages. Premium accounts start at $29/month ($24/ month if paid annually).

  • HeyGen Help Center

• Synthesia 

  • Account Info: A free account includes 3 minutes of video per month + 9 avatars (it does not include a custom avatar/digital double or the ability to generate a video from a document (like Example 6 above). Premium accounts start at $29/month ($18/month if paid annually).

  • Synthesia Knowledge Base

• Elai - Recently acquired by Panopto

• Colossyan

HeyGen vs Synthesia Comparison - by Saša Stojić-Ito, generated with research from ChatGPT.

Research Articles

Kaate, I., Salminen, J., Al Tamime, R., Jung, S. G., & Jansen, B. J. (2025). Is Deepfake Diversity Real? Analyzing the Diversity of Deepfake Avatars. Expert Systems with Applications, 269, 126382. Shared with a Creative Commons-Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 International License.

• Analysis of 202 deepfake avatars from three deepfake providers reveals significant demographic disparities with 18 out of 48 possible demographic groups unrepresented. Deepfake avatars’ gender distribution was nearly balanced (49.01% male, 50.99% female), but older age groups (Baby Boomers and Silent Generation) were substantially underrepresented by 64.36% and 76.24%, respectively, relative to the average number of all deepfake avatars. Differences in language representation were present in deepfake avatar providers with only 1.06% of global languages covered. The findings indicate that current deepfake technology lacks diversity, primarily favoring young white individuals, neglecting older demographics, Asians, and Middle Eastern populations, with underrepresentation of 40.59% and 52.48%, respectively, relative to the average number of all deepfake avatars.

Netland, T., von Dzengelevski, O., Tesch, K., & Kwasnitschka, D. (2025). Comparing human-made and AI-generated teaching videos: An experimental study on learning effects. Computers & Education, 224, 105164. Shared with a Creative Commons-Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 International License.

• This study compares the learning effects of AI-generated versus human-made teaching videos.•
  In an online experiment, 447 participants watched four teaching videos, filled out a survey, and took an exam. Participants prefer human-made teaching videos in terms of learning experience. When watching AI-generated videos, participants achieved equally high learning outcomes. Teaching videos can quickly be made using generative AI tools and can be expected to proliferate but the study notes the importance of an instructor's authentic presence in promoting motivation and engagement. Also, the participants were online gig workers, not actual students, which is not an authentic context.

Other

• Webinar Recording: CVC@ONE Authentic Presence and Digital Doubles, April 2025

• This Course is AI Generated. A free video-based course by Leon Furze. This course is provided for free to raise awareness of deepfake and synthetic media technologies. Access lasts for 21 days from enrollment.

• Identity Conscious Professional Development

  • Costino, K. A. (2018). Equity-Minded Faculty Development: An Instersectional Identity-Conscious Commmunity of Practice Model for Faculty Learning, Metropolitan Universities, 29(1). DOI: 10.18060/22170

• Universal Design for Learning 

  •  CAST.org

• Humans Centered Principles for Adopting Gen AI  - CCC Chancellor's Office