Best of: The future of AI coaching

We hope you’re enjoying the holiday season with family, friends, and loved ones. We’ll be releasing new episodes again in the new year – in the meantime, today, we’re re-running a fascinating episode on The future of AI coaching. The past few years have seen an incredible boom in AI and one of our colleagues, James Landay , a professor in Computer Science, thinks that when it comes to AI and education, things are just getting started. He’s particularly excited about the potential for AI to serve as a coach or tutor. We hope you’ll take another listen to this conversation and come away with some optimism for the potential AI has to help make us smarter and healthier. Have a question for Russ? Send it our way in writing or via voice memo, and it might be featured on an upcoming episode. Please introduce yourself, let us know where you're listening from, and share your question. You can send questions to thefutureofeverything@stanford.edu . Episode Reference Links: Stanford Profile: ​​ James Landay Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>> Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Chapters: (00:00:00) Introduction Russ Altman introduces guest James Landay, a professor of Computer Science at Stanford University. (00:01:44) Evolving AI Applications How large language models can replicate personal coaching experiences. (00:06:24) Role of Health Experts in AI Integrating insights from medical professionals into AI coaching systems. (00:10:01) Personalization in AI Coaching How AI coaches can adapt personalities and avatars to cater to user preferences. (00:12:30) Group Dynamics in AI Coaching Pros and cons of adding social features and group support to AI coaching systems. (00:13:48) Ambient Awareness in Technology Ambient awareness and how it enhances user engagement without active attention. (00:17:24) Using AI in Elementary Education Narrative-driven tutoring systems to inspire kids' learning and creativity. (00:22:39) Encouraging Student Writing with AI Using LLMs to motivate students to write through personalized feedback. (00:23:32) Scaling AI Educational Tools The ACORN project and creating dynamic, scalable learning experiences. (00:27:38) Human-Centered AI The concept of human-centered AI and its focus on designing for society. (00:30:13) Conclusion Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>> Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Best of: The future of AI coaching is an episode from The Future of Everything presented by Stanford Engineering by Stanford Engineering & Russ Altman.

This episode is 00:30:55 long.

This episode was published on Dec 26, 2025.

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