Yale’s CS50 course is introducing a new AI chatbot to assist students with their coding needs. The chatbot, known as the “CS50 duck,” will be available around-the-clock to answer student questions and provide helpful hints. This initiative is part of the course’s goal to provide a one-to-one TA to student ratio through software. Students can interact with the CS50 duck through a web-based interface or the course’s Q&A platform. While the AI technology will not replace human staff support, it will enhance the impact of teaching assistants by being available 24/7. The implementation of this tool comes as Yale engages in discussions about the use of AI-based tools in academia. Unlike other AI tools, the CS50 duck focuses on providing hints and guiding students towards finding solutions on their own, similar to how a human TA would assist during office hours. The CS50 duck is inspired by the concept of “rubber duck debugging,” a method where programmers articulate their code line-by-line to a physical rubber duck to identify bugs. The AI duck has a limited number of “hearts” that decrease when students ask questions, requiring them to wait for regeneration if they run out. Students are hopeful that the AI tool will better understand their questions and prevent cheating. In addition to developing the CS50 duck, the CS50 team is also exploring AI-led training for human TAs. This training may soon extend to other fields of study, such as the humanities, arts, and social sciences. The integration of AI into academia is expected to expand beyond computer science courses, with other departments incorporating the technology into their instruction. CS50 has been offered at Yale since Fall 2015.