{"id":148238,"date":"2026-08-22T16:50:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T16:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/148238\/"},"modified":"2026-08-22T16:50:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T16:50:10","slug":"so-you-think-you-can-dance-with-ai-an-sdsu-professor-is-giving-it-a-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/148238\/","title":{"rendered":"So you think you can dance with AI? An SDSU professor is giving it a go"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A dance performance by San Diego State University students. (Photo courtesy of SDSU School of Music and Dance)<\/p>\n

Within SDSU\u2019s dance department<\/a>, Professor Joseph Alter is using artificial intelligence as a tool for step-by-step instruction.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In dance, choreography ideas can come easily, but explaining the steps doesn\u2019t always make sense. So Alter found a fix for this through AI.<\/p>\n

Alter, a professor of dance<\/a>, said he creates \u201cweb-based apps that serve as visual learning tools for students.\u201d<\/p>\n

Using generative AI, Alter can command animated stick-figures to perform jumps and pli\u00e9s in a combination of steps. Other times, he\u2019ll bounce ideas off the platform or sequence choreography.<\/p>\n

\u201cI try to fashion things for students that bring them into new places, rather than repeating, reiterating things they already know,\u201d Alter said.<\/p>\n

But Alter said he understands the limitations of AI, especially within a creative field such as dance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll ask his students to input dance-related questions into AI to determine the credibility of its answers. Students are then able to navigate what AI can and cannot do.<\/p>\n

Alter noted AI\u2019s ability to \u201challucinate,\u201d or pull factually incorrect information out of thin air. Within dance education, explaining moves incorrectly could hamper a student\u2019s understanding of an entire piece of choreography.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re not a subject matter expert, it sounds plausible,\u201d Alter said, \u201cBut if you know something, if you\u2019re an expert or are well read even in the subject, you\u2019ll see that there are many, many errors.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Reflective writing, an activity in Alter\u2019s class, breaks down personal experiences and asks that students make sense of those moments on pen and paper. Alter tells students to get up and start moving around if they feel stuck.<\/p>\n

\u201cAI can\u2019t do that for you,\u201d Alter said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While AI has an understanding of dance, it can\u2019t recreate the act in a human way.<\/p>\n

\u201cDance is an embodied practice; you actually have to have human beings in a space collaborating to do it,\u201d Alter said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Students of San Diego State University, with Dance Professor Joseph Alter in a group performance. (Photo courtesy of SDSU School of Music and Dance)<\/p>\n

Julia Elbert, a dancer and former student of Alter\u2019s, said the professor\u2019s mode of teaching with AI was helpful in specific instances.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe would create mapping sequences,\u201d Elbert said, to imitate the form of a flock of birds or a school of fish, spatially set to Alter\u2019s preference, for students to recreate.<\/p>\n

Elbert said each sequence, recreating animal movement, \u201cwas very helpful in learning proximity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the ways AI can help students visualize, it can\u2019t fully understand dance as a practice, according to Elbert.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s gonna be possible for AI to fully embody or understand all the teeny tiny nuances that goes on [for] doing the most simple steps,\u201d Elbert said.<\/p>\n

Students of Alter\u2019s and other SDSU faculty have witnessed the university\u2019s growing incorporation of AI within degree programs, certifications, and now a literacy credential.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In July, California piloted a micro-credential program, AI-Ready California<\/a>, so students and individuals entering the workforce can learn skills in AI.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Freshmen enrolled at SDSU are now required to take a one-credit course, \u201cAcademic Applications of AI,\u201d to earn this credential.<\/p>\n

James Frazee, vice president of information technology at SDSU, said AI is becoming a standard in and out of the classroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving some fluency with AI is becoming an expectation of a lot of employers now,\u201d said Frazee, noting what companies have shared with the university.<\/p>\n

\u201cAI is forcing us to have conversations around what we know about how people learn,\u201d Frazee said.<\/p>\n

To keep up with students\u2019 and faculty\u2019s thoughts on AI, SDSU runs an AI Survey<\/a>, gauging the group\u2019s evolving attitudes as the technology advances.<\/p>\n

Instructors are allowed to decide how they want to use AI in their classrooms, Frazee said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jess Humphrey,<\/a> another professor in SDSU\u2019s dance department, expressed her preference for keeping AI strictly administrative and out of the classroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m limiting my use of AI to things that allow me to remain in the studio for more hours,\u201d Humphrey said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What differentiates dance from AI, Humphrey said, is the physical. Physical action \u2013 touch \u2013 creates consequences.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe purpose of dance is about getting people into a room, collaborating with one another and encountering the physical world,\u201d Humphrey said.<\/p>\n

Students and classrooms are evolving, but it\u2019s not solely because of AI, said professor Alter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen changes in students, but it\u2019s hard to pinpoint exactly what is precipitating these changes \u2013 I don\u2019t think it\u2019s AI though,\u201d Alter said.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A dance performance by San Diego State University students. (Photo courtesy of SDSU School of Music and Dance)…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":148239,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[24,25,43728,27580],"class_list":["post-148238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ai","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-dance","tag-san-diego-state-university"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}