Addresses a growing challenge in higher education and beyond: preparing students for the real-world, high-stakes conversations in any field of study of work with a need for stronger communication. Traditional role-play methods can be limited by logistics of time, staffing, and standardization - all issues that melt away using AI Avatars. This session introduces a scalable, cutting-edge, technology-enhanced solution - realistic AI avatars that simulate emotionally nuanced interactions to support the development of communication, empathy, and cultural competence. 

This workshop is co-led by a live avatar! Participants will learn how to create immersive, scenario-based avatar experiences in real-time advanced prompt engineering supported by subject-specific knowledge bases. 

The workshop draws from my work leading social-emotional AI simulation across the Anchutz Medical Campus and beyond with partnerships including psychiatry, dentistry, nursing, faculty development, legal, sales, and a wide variety of public health programs. Out unique approach blends design thinking, narrative practice, and emerging AI technologies to emotionally resonant gamified, scalable, realistic training situations. 

The workshop will be highly interactive: participants will define a real-world communication challenge from their own context, map a role-play scenario using Miro, and collaboratively craft a knowledge base and prompt structure to guide avatar behavior. Demonstrations of live AI avatar interactions will be followed by followed by small-group design activities in part facilitated by a live avatar! By the end, participants will leave with a repeatable methodology and starter template to build their own Ai-powered simulations, grounded in educational goals and human connection with plenty of opportunity to collaborate. 

This workshop is ideal for educators, instructional designers, and public health professionals looking to expand their teaching toolkit with emerging technologies that prioritize empathy, realism, and learner agency. Participants will leave this session with a clear, repeatable framework for designing AI-powered avatar simulations to teach communication, empathy, and cultural competence in their own fields. They'll gain foundational knowledge of how multi-module AI can be used to create emotionally nuanced, scenario-based learning experiences through advanced prompt engineering, cutting-edge tools, and opportunities to collaborate with my project and others. 

Participants will construct a live-avatar together around any topic we choose in real-time. A live avatar will also be co-presenting for deeper collaboration.