{"id":5505,"date":"2025-02-04T07:00:02","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T12:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/websites.emerson.edu\/itg\/?p=5505"},"modified":"2026-01-27T14:21:52","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T19:21:52","slug":"canvas-and-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/websites.emerson.edu\/itg\/canvas-and-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"Canvas and AI"},"content":{"rendered":"

We are hearing a lot from faculty about AI, and wanted to let you know how Canvas is dealing with it. First, some refreshing news! They are NOT doing this:<\/p>\n

\"Person<\/p>\n

Canvas’s approach to AI has instead been relatively cautious:<\/p>\n

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  1. Opt-in only<\/strong>: in contrast to companies like Google or Microsoft who bundle AI into their products with no opt-out, Canvas is rolling out discrete features that can be turned on or off at either the institution or the course level.<\/li>\n
  2. Targeted<\/strong>: Canvas is focused on features that could potentially improve faculty quality of life (discussion summaries, smart search).<\/li>\n
  3. Transparent<\/strong>: Canvas is being clear about what data is sent to the model, what data is used to train the model (not any of our data), and what is logged. They have been publishing AI Nutrition Facts for each feature<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    ITG carefully tests new Canvas feature options before enabling them, and the AI-enhanced features are no exception. We evaluate all new features to see if they will be helpful to faculty and students, or if they are more trouble than they are worth.<\/p>\n

    The following are the results from our exploration into two of these features.<\/p>\n

    Smart Search<\/b><\/h3>\n

    Canvas\u2019s Smart Search uses AI (Cohere Embed Multilingual) to more completely search a course\u2019s content. In contrast with a traditional\/simple search, Smart Search understands the context of queries and finds relevant results outside the literal meaning of the search term(s). It facilitates faster content discovery without the need for complex search operators or tools. The feature supports multiple languages and will search content pages, announcements, discussion prompts, and assignment descriptions. It would appear as a menu item in the main left-side course menu:<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    Smart Search AI Nutrition Facts<\/a><\/p>\n

    Pros:<\/h4>\n