Empowering Deaf/Hard of Hearing Students: Educators Harness the Potential of AI to Transform Education and Foster Inclusivity

Empowering Deaf/Hard of Hearing Students: Educators Harness the Potential of AI to Transform Education and Foster Inclusivity

By Junior Gonzalez

As generative artificial intelligence continues to reimagine the world’s collective understanding of technology, educators in the AIU’s Deaf/Hard of Hearing (DHH) program are working to find ways their students can benefit from AI. The program held a training session last August to explore use cases and implications of using chatbots and other AI technology to address access needs of students who are deaf/hard of hearing.

Educators Samantha Estremera, Mindy Robbins and Lenette Sostmann spearheaded the project, which they conceptualized as part of the DHH program’s student performance measures. Enabling students to become critical and responsible consumers of digital information is a major focus of the program. Robbins said AI programs like ChatGPT can serve as language models, adjust reading complexity based on each student’s level, and other accommodations in real time to “become an on-demand ADA advisor” of sorts.

“AI is here to stay and will forever change the landscape of everything it touches. Our students are no exception,” Robbins said.

Educators are utilizing AI accessibility tools during their sessions with transition-age students and exploring how to leverage the technology for their postsecondary life, from employment to further learning and even independent living. The findings will be shared with the wider DHH community in Allegheny County to cultivate a culture of inclusivity and independence.