The Future of Education
Course-Specific AI TAs: A Platform Comparison for Higher Education
Joon S. Park, School of Information Studies, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY (United States)
Abstract
As generative AI tools increasingly spread across higher education and become available, educators are confronted with a substantial decision: which AI platform best facilitates the implementation of course-specific AI teaching assistants (AI TAs) in their courses? This study seeks to compare available options as of today by designing and evaluating three distinct course-specific AI TAs: OpenAI Custom GPT, Anthropic Claude Projects, and Google Gemini Gems, all implemented within the same cybersecurity course. Each AI TA was meticulously configured with course-specific instructional objectives, lecture materials, a course syllabus, an academic schedule, and course-related resources. We assessed the following governance-relevant criteria: knowledge capacity and persistence; internal alignment with course materials; external scholarly retrieval; academic integrity and ethics; cross-device mobility; multimodal utility; and cost and usability within institutional frameworks. The findings indicate significant platform-specific trade-offs. The results demonstrated clear platform trade-offs. Claude Projects showed the strongest default integrity posture (i.e., reliably refusing graded work requests and redirecting students toward constructive coaching with minimal prompt hardening). Custom GPT offered the greatest behavioral controllability and strong alignment with the course materials when configured explicitly. Gemini stood out for visualized support, but its usefulness as a course-specific AI TA was materially limited by the Knowledge file cap and the lack of voice support for custom Gems. Overall, this study offers guidance to instructors and institutions on deploying AI TAs that enhance learning experiences and outcomes while safeguarding academic integrity and promoting accessibility.
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Keywords |
Course-specific AI Teaching Assistant (TA), AI-augmented Higher Education, |
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