Harvard's AI Instructor Avatars Hit the Uncanny Valley — Students Don't Mind

Harvard's HBS Foundry bootcamp uses HeyGen AI video avatars of instructors for practice pitches. NYT reporter Sarah Kessler spotted a frozen smile on the virtual Jeff Bussgang, who called it "a little creepy" but said students love it. Despite visible uncanny-valley artifacts, participants embraced the avatars — suggesting acceptance is outpacing technical polish.