One platform, 3 use cases: Teachers craft AI agents for dental, math, and more
Key Takeaways
- Australian educators are using the Cogniti platform to build custom AI tutors, role-players, and feedback bots, reshaping classroom interaction without needing to code.
Mentioned
Key Intelligence
Key Facts
- 1Cogniti is an AI platform developed by the University of Sydney, conceived in February 2023 in response to fears about AI in education.
- 2The no-code platform, published on Microsoft Marketplace, allows teachers to create custom AI agents tailored to specific lessons.
- 3Early use cases include role-playing as a dental patient, mimicking a poorly performing math student for peer teaching, and providing personalized assignment feedback.
- 4Adoption has reached universities globally, with a focus on deepening rather than replacing teacher–student relationships.
- 5Professor Danny Liu emphasizes that teachers can use AI to 'do things they've always wanted to do,' from running simulations to automating feedback.
We don't want people seeing the AI as a replacement for teachers - we want teachers to deepen their relationship with students because they can use AI to do things they've always wanted to do.
During an interview with AAP
Teachers have already built dental patients, struggling math students, and assignment feedback bots
Analysis
For teachers looking to harness AI without losing control, Cogniti offers a new path. Instead of top-down AI tools, educators can now create bespoke agents that fit their exact lesson plans—from a virtual dental patient to a struggling math student—putting the power back in their hands.
Teachers are taking an innovative approach to artificial intelligence in the classroom by creating their own customized AI teaching assistants, thanks to an Australian platform called Cogniti. Developed at the University of Sydney and available on the Microsoft Marketplace, Cogniti lets educators build AI agents tailored to specific lessons without any coding. Professor Danny Liu, who conceived the platform in February 2023, says the goal is not to replace teachers but to deepen their connection with students by automating repetitive tasks and enabling new forms of interaction.
Developed at the University of Sydney and available on the Microsoft Marketplace, Cogniti lets educators build AI agents tailored to specific lessons without any coding.
The platform’s flexibility has already produced striking examples. Medical students practice chair-side manner on a virtual dental patient with sensitive teeth and dental anxiety, programmed by their professor to simulate realistic clinical conversations. In primary schools, a teacher created an AI companion that mimics a student struggling with math, allowing human pupils to correct and teach it—a powerful peer-learning twist. Other applications include providing personalized feedback on written assignments based on an educator’s own rubric. These use cases illustrate a shift from one-size-fits-all AI tutors to teacher-driven agents that align with precise pedagogical goals.
Cogniti arrives at a time of intense scrutiny and excitement about AI in education. Research warns that AI could reshape learning more profoundly than the internet did, and public figures like Pope Leo have weighed in on its societal impact. Against this backdrop, the platform’s design philosophy is notable: it gives instructors the tools to harness AI on their terms, rather than imposing a top-down solution. By framing AI as a tool for role-play, formative feedback, and personalized practice, Cogniti positions teachers as designers of their own technological augmentation.
What to Watch
The implications for the broader educational technology market are significant. The ability to deploy custom AI agents via a trusted marketplace like Microsoft’s lowers the barrier for schools and universities worldwide. Already, institutions are adopting Cogniti to supplement medical training, teacher education, and K-12 classrooms. This teacher-centric model could accelerate AI adoption by addressing the very concerns—job displacement, loss of control—that make educators wary. As AI becomes more pervasive, platforms that empower rather than replace will likely define the next wave of edtech.
Looking ahead, Cogniti’s approach could extend far beyond the classroom. The concept of domain experts creating their own AI agents without developer intervention has applications in healthcare, legal, and corporate training. The underlying technology, likely leveraging generative AI models, may evolve to support even more sophisticated simulations and adaptive learning pathways. For now, Cogniti stands as a practical example of how AI can be shaped by the people who know their students best—the teachers themselves.
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|---|---|
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