LM112 - Audiology Education Re-AI-magined: Generative AI in Teaching and Training

Abstract: The emergence of easily accessible generative AI (GAI) tools offers new opportunities for enhanced classroom teaching for future audiologists. Use of GAI in medical education supports improved learning opportunities and student satisfaction through simulated patient interactions. Through no- and low-cost applications, audiology faculty in the classroom and clinical supervisors in the clinic can support student learning through development of customized chatbot patient simulations. This session will provide a basic introduction to the application of GAI for supporting clinical teaching and training. Attendees will explore AI tools to enhance educational outcomes for students. Considerations for responsible, ethical use will be included.

Summary: Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become integrated into our daily lives and is now emerging as a tool in classroom and clinical training across healthcare disciplines. The availability of easily accessible generative AI (GAI) tools offers new opportunities for enhanced classroom and clinical teaching for future audiologists. Studies examining effectiveness of GAI in medical education show that students who participate in simulated patient interactions demonstrate higher post-training scores, higher enthusiasm for learning, greater self-directed learning motivation, and report interacting with more diverse cases (Wang et al., 2025). Use of GAI-based teaching demonstrates advantages for enhanced knowledge in extended learning periods and in practice-/ clinic- oriented classes. Students with experiences in GAI learning report higher enthusiasm for learning and higher satisfaction with their learning experience (Wang et al., 2025; Li et al., 2025). Importantly, studies support that GPT-powered chatbots provide mostly plausible answers, yield a good user experience, and provide effective structured feedback in history-taking, supporting that they can be valuable tools for medical education (Holderried, 2024; Holderried, 2024).

This session will provide an introduction to GAI including fundamental vocabulary and concepts. No technical background or coding experience is required. Through exploration and interactive demonstration of various no- and low-cost GAI tools, attendees will explore how student learning opportunities can be enhanced via interactive patient simulations. Considerations for responsible, ethical use will be discussed. Student feedback from real classroom experiences will be shared. Attendees will leave the session with an understanding of how to create a custom GPT for use in simulated patient interactions for training purposes.

Brief Summary of Clinical Takeaways: One non-clinical takeaway for this session is an understanding of how custom chatbots can be used for simulated patient interactions in clinical training of future audiologists. Attendees will leave with knowledge of evidence supporting the effectiveness of this training method as well as resources for creating their own interactive tools.