This past week I had the opportunity to sit down with Dr Fabio Oliveira, lecturer in entrepreneurship and innovation, to discuss emerging technologies such as AI, VR, and the metaverse. We discuss the role of these technologies in education, as well as the importance of developing a toolbox of skills, and how students could benefit from this.
Dr Oliveira also hosts free VR workshops where students can interact with virtual reality avatars to develop negotiation skills. Multiple dates are currently available and running until December. There is a QR code below to sign up for one of the sessions and develop both your VR and negotiation skills.
Below is an excerpt from our conversation.
Could you give some information on your background, both at the University of Reading and what you were doing before?
Before university, I worked in industry, in sales management and marketing positions for big corporations in Latin America. I did that job for nearly 30 years, and together with my executive career, I built my academic career. I did a master's degree here in the UK, an MBA in Brazil, and some extensions in California, and as well in Canada. And then at the end of 2018, I decided to leave my job in the industry to pursue my PhD. I moved to this country again in August 2019. My PhD was a qualitative inquiry into the impacts of digital technologies on board members, ways of working, and decision making.
Since then, I have been working with research that evaluates and explores how digital technology is changing the way professionals work. My work has been focusing on virtual reality for training, the metaverse, Web3, the usage of avatars, generative AI, and artificial intelligence in general, but more focused on sales and customer service as well as training and education.
I’m in your module next semester, MM2100 Sales and Business Development, does that include any of these technologies that you’re working with?
Yes, you will be practicing a sales pitch with an AI avatar. One of your assignments is to record a sales call with another colleague, playing the role of a customer. Before you record this, you can practice with a virtual assistant.
Technology like VR, extended reality, and AI, is that something that you approached going into your PhD, or is that something that you've always worked with?
No, before my PhD I had never worked with any of these technologies apart from selling them. For example, I worked for a technology company where I used to sell hardware, computers, laptops, tablets, and mobile phones, but I used to sell these for corporations and retailers. I wasn't aware or in deep knowledge about AI or virtual reality before my PhD.
During my PhD, I became a certified artificial intelligence instructor for Huawei. Here at the university’s Henley Business School, we had Huawei ICT academy.
I received a certification from their academy, and from that, I was offered the opportunity to teach the foundations of artificial intelligence to professionals and students. I was even awarded the best tutor in Europe for artificial intelligence as an instructor at the Huawei ICT academy in Europe.
That time was quite a pivotal moment. It's where things started to change, not just for VR, and AI, but for technology as a whole. Was there extra importance in adapting to this at university?
Well, I understand that the pandemic only accelerated the adoption of several technologies and the usage of several technologies. During my whole career in sales, I used to travel hours taking flights, taxis, and booking hotels to have a 40-minute meeting with a decision maker. During the pandemic, this was all over.
Some companies were really lagging behind, or sceptical, or too deep in their comfort zone in adopting technologies such as cloud computing or conversational technologies like Zoom and Microsoft Teams. These were not even a thing to consider before the pandemic.
University-wise, I don't think as much. Obviously, all the lectures turned out to be online and it was new for everybody, lecturers as well. We had to relearn the way we engage with students and the way we deliver content online.
But for me, the crucial moment for universities was generative AI, when ChatGPT became mainstream and people around the world started using it. I think this is the technology that is pushing for changing the way educators produce materials, engage with students, and assess students. So, the interactions between us, the faculty and students.
(This Image is AI Generated for the purpose of the article - Using ChatGPT, OpenAI)
For students, it can be an inspirational tool or a means to an end for assignments. Could you discuss how it's impacted lecturers and students and if there are any concerns around that?
We are in the phase of systematically and critically assessing the implications of these tools. It's still early days.
We really are not yet guided or informed by the university on how to use these tools. It's pretty much an individual effort. Universities are complex systems; it takes a while to move forward. Academics are very critical, some very sceptical, and some lagging behind the pace of how technology progresses.
From the student side, we acknowledge that you move much faster in the adoption. But our concern is more about how you use this in a way that's ethical, and to acknowledge that you use the technology. It's a matter of goodwill, really, because there are no tools
that can detect if you use it. They give us a probability, and based on probability, we cannot say, oh, you have used it or not.
Although, the university has guidelines now. We have a classification of how you need to use and how you need to disclose the usage of the tool. There are almost an infinite number of different tasks that these tools can help with. My international students, for example, use automated real-time transcriptions during their classes.
It's a virtual assistant. It's something that can assist you. In saying that, the way we assess a student's work and knowledge must change as well.
Looking forward five or ten years, will we see a different form of assessment as AI becomes more capable?
As I see it, it’s difficult to predict anything. I think immersive technology and AI will become normal. What I mean by normal is like how your mobile phone is today. The first time I came to this country in 2006, we didn't have any smartphones. It's not that far ago, right? And the technology changed everything. I don’t believe in the predictions of AI taking over.
The type of assessments that I consider important are assessments where you can demonstrate how good you are at using these technologies. For example, it's not acceptable anymore that you submit an assignment with typos or mistakes. It's not acceptable anymore that you struggle to produce a high-quality video, and that you don't know how to use avatars.
I cannot simply ask you to write an assignment anymore because it will be too easy. The temptation of going to these tools and asking them to write for you is huge, right? Because it's there in front of you. We cannot assess you the same way. We also can’t go back to the last century and ask you to go to great halls and sit hard paper exams. That isn’t the solution.
So, I think this digital literacy will be part of your assessment. Instead of knowing only the content, you need to be capable of critically assessing and making sense of the world that is around you. These technologies are only to help you deliver more value for yourself, and for the companies that you're going to work for.
When you land a job in a company, the company will expect that you know how to use this technology to innovate and to automate what can be automated. And the value that you will create as a professional will be different.
I believe you as an individual, as a professional, and the universities at the same time need to start embracing these technologies and embedding digital literacy as part of the curriculum.
I think every student knows about AI, especially generative AI. Many students are learning about VR. Is there anything new that’s about to explode into the mainstream and how important is it to be ahead?
I like the analogy of a toolbox. As you progress in your career, from being a student to an apprentice and then a more senior manager, your toolbox, and the tools you have inside your toolbox, they change. These technologies are nothing alone, you need to know how to use them. Have them in your toolbox. It's more about learning to use what's currently available than trying to predict the next trend.
It's an ecosystem. It's a combination of technology that creates this ecosystem. You have VR, virtual reality, not in the sense of a headset, but the virtual world. You have the blockchain technology that enables this. You have AI to create content, and characters, and create and manage tokens and cryptocurrencies. You have the social aspect of it, the economic aspect of it, the financial aspect of it. These are tools that you can have. Are these tools suitable and important for all sorts of companies? I don't believe so.
But if you are in an innovative company that likes to explore possibilities, be at the forefront, and dictate the next generation of investments, your company will be learning these tools. Companies like Nike for example, bought RTFKT in 2021, which is essentially a studio that designs digital clothes in the format of tokens.
They are creating a full range of digital items. In some cases, omnichannel items. This means you buy a pair of digital sneakers that is registered in a blockchain, and you can use the tokens to have access to special items in-store or participate in special events. All the premium brands like Dolce & Gabbana, Balenciaga, and Louis Vuitton are there in the metaverse, or let's say, in these virtual worlds.
And they have individual currencies, tokens, and words as well. Artists are using these platforms to promote their work and engage with the community differently. The result of this, it's already a multi-billion-dollar industry, which is amazing. You cannot do anything about it, so you need to have a mindset of lifelong learning. Be proactive and search for content that is relevant to you.
Finally, I saw a poster about the VR workshop you host. Could you tell us more?
Sure. This was enabled by an internal grant from the university. I have been offering this in partnership with a company that produces the training content. The session is about laying the ground for negotiation, where you can figure out your style and how you stand when you are negotiating what you want, and the other party doesn't want exactly what you want. So, it's much more dealing with how you engage within a negotiation. The technology is only a medium. You will enter a virtual reality room populated with avatars who will expose you to situations and mentor you. During the 35 minutes, they ask you questions, and you need to make decisions and interact with the avatar. You speak with them, and they react to what you have provided as an answer.
Again, it's about experiencing learning in a different environment, with a different style of tutoring, and a different medium. I have been doing this for nearly two years now and more than 600 people have already completed the session with me or at least experienced the new technology. And until December, I have many dates available. Anyone from Henley Business School can sign up and come in. I will provide the experience personally. As retribution, I only ask for participation in my research project as well.
We developed a model where we want to test, explore and investigate the role of these avatars in your learning, as well as the cognition that is used in these environments, how it affects learning, and your perceived performance in the training environment.
So, yes, it's free to come, it's optional. I invite everybody to sign up.
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