Introducing Xiaomu, XuetangX's new AI Learning Assistant

BEIJING, Sept. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- "Xiaomu" is the name of an artificial intelligence (AI) virtual teacher being developed by XuetangX in cooperation with the Department of Computer Science and Technology at Tsinghua University.

He is a personalized study partner who can reduce the burden of teachers and help students improve their learning efficiency and enthusiasm. He has been tested in several courses on XuetangX's massive open online course (MOOC) platform.

The XuetangX CTO, Guan Jian, explained that Xiaomu is based on advanced AI and natural language processing technologies. He uses a massive number of high-quality online resources from XuetangX's platform to build his huge knowledge map.

AI is revolutionizing online courses on an unprecedented scale, and there's no stopping it. In the case of MOOCs, wherein enrollment can exceed thousands of students in one course, the use of virtual teacher assistants is becoming a necessity as they help teachers deliver their content with high academic rigor.

Jian asserts, "The robot, Xiaomu, is a good example of how AI can optimize the MOOC teaching process, making it more attractive, more efficient and more personalized."

As soon as students start a course, Xiaomu predicts where they each have problems and answers their questions in the form of text, pictures, videos, etc. Students can always ask him more until they fully understand the concept. In talking to Xiaomu, they avoid occupying the teacher's time.

Xiaomu can also understand users intimately. Most of the questions students ask are routine with firm, objective solutions. However when confronted with more complicated issues Xiaomu asks other learners or human assistants for help, creating a social learning environment.

When users are watching videos, Xiaomu actively asks students related knowledge questions to help them learn how to deal with error-prone and confusing content.

The XuetangX development team is also working on the introduction of positive psychology to help students increase their learning efficiency. When a student chooses a lecture, Xiaomu will indicate whether it is necessary in their learning plan. He will constantly monitor students' progress and provide advice and encouragement at different stages. Even after a user finishes a course, Xiaomu will design and recommend other courses according to the user's preferences in order to help individual students to learn effectively.

XuetangX is a world's leading platform for lifelong learning. It is devoted to bringing together quality education resources from schools, enterprises, and providing a low-cost, efficient access to knowledge, certificates, credits and even degrees. At present, there are 12 million registered users and more than 1500 MOOCs courses".

SOURCE XuetangX