How to Use AI Tools to Create Instructional Videos: Highlights from the fourth AI Talk series

On February 24, Libraries faculty and staff gathered for the fourth talk in the AI Talk series, “How to Use AI Tools to Create Instructional Videos,” a lunchtime session focused on practical ways faculty can use AI to produce short, reusable teaching videos. The event offered a collaborative space to ask questions, share experiences, and explore how AI can support instructional design without replacing faculty expertise.

The session was led by Jing Lu, Libraries clinical assistant professor and facilitator of the AI Talk series. She guided participants through a simple workflow that transforms existing slide content into polished micro-lectures.

Faculty explored how AI can turn bullet points into a structured 2-minute script, generate different delivery formats, including AI presenters or avatars, add captions and basic edits for accessibility, and even create short AI-generated visual simulations to explain abstract concepts. The example “What Is AI Bias?” video helped illustrate these strategies in a concrete, classroom-ready context.

Throughout the session, Jing emphasized that AI functions as a production assistant, not a replacement for faculty expertise. Discussions also highlighted considerations around accuracy, student trust, and deciding when AI-generated videos are appropriate for a course.

The session demonstrated how thoughtful AI use can reduce repetitive instructional labor while keeping pedagogy and academic responsibility at the center, giving faculty practical tools to enhance teaching and learning.