The AI Modalities Initiative is a new and exploratory effort within Cornell’s Creative Technology Lab that investigates emerging forms of artificial intelligence, their potential impact on higher education, and what responsible educational practices may look like in response to this developing technology. While many educators are familiar with text-based AI tools, the landscape is rapidly evolving to include wearable and ambient AI systems, such as smart glasses and wristbands, as well as additional technologies that can see, hear, generate media, interpret environments, and interact in multimodal ways.

In the coming years, these modalities have the potential to profoundly impact the classroom. As much as they can offer exciting opportunities for student learning, they also raise critical questions related to privacy, academic integrity, and whether, how, and the extent to which they can be used to facilitate student learning, rather than circumvent it. 

With that in mind, the AI Modalities Initiative seeks to bridge technology exploration with critical inquiry, to investigate – and interrogate – the myriad potential impacts that these developing technologies may have on learning environments across campus. The core of the Initiative’s work is to develop best practices that support thoughtful, responsible and forward-looking integration of AI into teaching and learning – while at the same time keeping students safe, protecting their privacy, creating and sustaining ethical and equitable learning experiences.

A Space for Exploration, Dialogue, and Guidance

The AI Modalities Initiative is intentionally exploratory, and evolving. It is not focused on promoting or prescribing specific technologies, but rather on:

• Supporting experimentation with emerging tools, including wearables.
• Encouraging cross-disciplinary dialogue.
• Identifying meaningful and responsible use cases.
• Developing institutional knowledge and guidance.
• Preparing for the future of AI in education.

This approach gives faculty the opportunity to learn, experiment, and grow alongside emerging AI technologies, in order to determine whether and how they can meaningfully support teaching and learning in their courses.

Our Activities

Artificial intelligence, particularly in wearable and multimodal forms, is advancing faster than educational frameworks and policies can keep pace. The AI Modalities Initiative provides a structured yet flexible space to:

• Explore emerging AI capabilities, including smart glasses and wearable AI, in real educational contexts.
• Develop usage and implementation recommendations, including syllabus language support, and ethical considerations.
• Establish best practices for using this technology responsibly in the classroom. 
• Support informed decision-making regarding how this technology may or may not contribute to student learning in specific courses.
• Foster AI literacy among faculty and students.

This work builds on the Creative Technology Lab’s existing exploration of generative AI and immersive technologies, while expanding into experimental territory.

Getting Involved

If you’re curious about how emerging AI technologies like wearables, multimodal tools, and ambient systems might support your teaching, or if you have a specific challenge you’d like to explore, we would be happy to connect with you and help bring your ideas to life. To get started, please fill out the Creative Technology Lab intake form.