By Staff Reporter |
Arizona State University (ASU) is using an AI tool, ASU Atomic, to create educational modules using content ripped from professors’ work.
Professors say they were not made aware of their lectures being used in this way; they also characterized the outcome as inaccurate “AI slop” as first reported by 404 Media.
“AI slop” refers generally to poor, undesired generative content. In some circles, “slop” may refer to not just some but all generative content under the perception that generative AI tools rely on stolen original works.
ASU Atomic promises to create an unlimited amount of custom learning modules for subscribers by taking long lectures and condensing them into smaller clips based on prompts. These synthetic clips “grounded in trusted ASU courses” fit within condensed courses that amount to less than 10 hours.
The tool began as a pilot launch earlier this month within an initiative called “Project Atomizer.”
Subscriptions for ASU Atomic cost $5 a month. At present, course content produced by the tool doesn’t translate to ASU academic credits, nor badges or credentials.
Not much exists publicly on Project Atomizer. The initiative was mentioned briefly in a February presentation by ASU President Michael Crow, part of a larger proposal to make AI the focus of the future: “current realities require current solutions,” according to the presentation.
Crow said in an interview last week with the Greater Phoenix Chamber that ASU has 50 AI tools, three of which are augmentative AI tools for students. Crow said he uses AI for “everything” in his daily life.
“[W]hen I’m driving to work, I use the Gemini tool. Basically, I’ll pick a subject that I don’t know enough about and I’ll get myself educated in like 22 minutes or 25 minutes,” said Crow. “I use it for basically quick analysis of really complicated things that I don’t have enough facts [for].”
Crow also revealed that he has used AI to write 20 white papers since November. He’s also used AI to create multiple architectural proposals: one for a site in Hawaii near the village of Javi, another for an addition to the West Valley campus in Phoenix.
ASU literature professor Chris Hanlon was one of the first to raise awareness of ASU Atomic. Hanlon told 404 Media that no professors he’d spoken with had given their permission for this generative content.
“None of the ASU faculty whose course materials were harvested for the module I generated were aware that their image, lectures, lessons, or other teaching materials are being used,” posted Hanlon on Bluesky.
Hanlon said the course materials were pulled from Canvas, a course management system. Hanlon criticized the AI-generated clips as error-laden, jumbled, lacking context, and confused.
“Concerning the course itself, there’s no throughline I can see; none of the videos really speak to one another — it’s a mishmash, though the individual lessons that comprise it probably make a lot more sense in their original context,” said Hanlon.
The ASU Atomic website says the tool relies on content pulled from the ASU Online library.
“If ASU teaches it, Atom — your AI learning partner — can build a hyper-personalized learning module around it,” stated the Atomic.
Since 404 Media broke their investigative report, ASU closed off new signups. Instead, interested users or curious onlookers will have to join a waitlist.
Faculty asked Crow about the AI tool during a recent faculty Q&A following that initial report, as later revealed by Inside Higher Ed. According to Crow, the tool remains an early-stage experimental project without substantial promotion.
ASU Atom told Inside Higher Ed that its model was built on Anthropic’s Claude. ASU has declined to speak on the training and development of the tool.
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