Indiana University launched a paid internship in March 2026 where eight students built artificial intelligence tools to improve the higher education experience. The GenAI Ambassadors Program gives educators a working model for how universities can integrate generative AI into student life while teaching responsible development.
Building academic tools
Students from various disciplines researched, designed and tested AI platforms. Their projects included study assistants, reflective learning tools, advising chatbots and presentation preparation platforms. Vishakha Ghodekar, a master's student in human-computer interaction, built a platform called StudyBuddy.
StudyBuddy lets students upload course materials, ask questions through a chatbot and generate customized practice quizzes. Sydni Friedmann, a senior in media advertising, created a reflective learning tool. It uses guided prompts and knowledge checks to help undergraduates engage with complex academic texts.
Henry Ahmed, a sophomore studying data science, and his team built a custom ChatGPT to help students prepare for oral exams and interviews. A separate team of business students developed KelleyAI, an AI for Education tool designed to answer common questions about schedules and degree requirements.
Managing limitations and failure
Participants entered the program with varying levels of technical experience. The internship required them to confront the technology's flaws, including AI hallucinations. "One aspect that stood out to me was how confidently AI can sometimes generate responses that aren't fully accurate," Ghodekar said. "It made me realize how easily users might over trust AI systems if they're not designed carefully."
The teams learned that initial prompts rarely produce optimal results. "The first response often isn't the best version," Friedmann said. "It's important to keep experimenting and testing until the tool understands certain guardrails and ethical concerns."
Luigi Dalcanale, a junior studying finance, said his team initially set goals too high. They abandoned their first design after two weeks and had to start over. He called the failure a crucial lesson in project management.
Rethinking classroom AI
The experience changed how the students view artificial intelligence in academic settings. Ghodekar said she began to see the technology as a collaborator rather than a final authority. The tools are meant to speed up thinking and support exploration, not replace independent thought.
Ahmed initially found the technology intimidating, but the hands-on training changed his mind. He said proper usage makes it one of the best tools available, providing an instructor and research assistant at a student's fingertips.
Why this matters for educators
University administrators and faculty can use this internship model to bridge the gap between AI theory and practical application. By paying students to build and test these tools, institutions gain functional campus resources while teaching students to evaluate AI outputs critically. This approach prepares the next generation of workers to use generative AI as a structured collaborator rather than a shortcut.
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