Meet CoBi, a new kind of artificial intelligence platform that seeks to bring young people together and help them learn. 

Imagine a small group of students huddled around their desks in a classroom. As they talk, a digital tree flashes on a nearby computer screen. If the students are collaborating and respecting their peers, blue or orange flowers may begin to bud from the tree. 

CoBi, which is short for “Community Builder,” is one of several innovations emerging from the National Science Foundation AI Institute for Student-AI Teaming (iSAT) led by CU Boulder. This $20 million initiative includes researchers at nine universities who are exploring the role that AI might play in the K-12 classrooms of tomorrow. 

It’s a totally different way of thinking about AI, said Sidney D’Mello, director of iSAT and a professor in CU Boulder’s Department of Computer Science and Institute for Cognitive Science (ICS). 

“CoBi is people collaborating, interacting, not one person alone on their computer.”