RLL Team Showcases AI-Driven Language Assessment Project at UChicago AI Initiative Campus Event

On February 12, Celia Bravo Díaz, Sara Dallavalle, and Diana Palenzuela Rodrigo presented the first phase of their project, “Rethinking Language Placement: How AI Can Improve Spanish and Italian Testing,” at the AI Initiative Campus Event held at Ida Noyes Hall at the University of Chicago.

Their work was one of five projects selected by the Artificial Intelligence and Education Working Group (AIEWG) to be featured in the AI and Education session, which explored innovative applications of artificial intelligence in teaching and learning.

The AI Initiative Campus Event featured presentations on pedagogical innovation and broader research highlights from across the University. Speakers and sessions covered AI’s role in education, science, and society, creating a vibrant interdisciplinary forum for sharing insights and emerging work.

During the AI and Education session, the RLL team explained how current placement exams – largely limited to written grammar and vocabulary – fail to capture students’ real abilities, creating significant heterogeneity in language classrooms. Their project proposes an automated, AI-supported placement test that integrates all four skills, including an innovative conversational component in which students interact dynamically with an AI interviewer rather than simply recording isolated responses.

Read more about the event here: https://datascience.uchicago.edu/events/ai-initiative-campus-event/