A University of Sydney invention, which allows teachers to create "AI stunt doubles" to assist with their work, has been named a winner in the Australian Financial Review 2025 AI Awards.
Cogniti is an AI assistant that supports teaching and learning. Developed by Professor Danny Liu of the University’s Educational Innovation team, it allows teachers to create highly customised AI agents that can be steered with instructions and subject-specific information.
"The relationship between the teacher and Cogniti is a bit like the one between an actor and their stunt double," said Professor Liu. "One doesn’t replace the other; they have different skills and work together. The AI stunt double does things the educator physically can’t, because no-one can be with a student 24/7."
The technology won the Research and Education category in the Australian Financial Review 2025 AI Awards, which celebrate groundbreaking achievements in artificial intelligence in Australia.
More than 800 educators at the University of Sydney are using Cogniti. Overseen and directed by teachers, the technology can answer students’ questions and provide instant personalised feedback and guidance 24 hours a day.
The University’s Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Mark Scott, congratulated Professor Liu and the experts and educators involved in developing and implementing the technology.
"It’s been extraordinary to see Cogniti supporting students across subjects from chemical engineering to musicology," said Professor Scott.
"At the University of Sydney, we're working hard to ensure our students understand the risks and opportunities presented by AI, preparing them for a future where this technology is embedded in every aspect of life and work. Thanks to the creativity and expertise of University staff who've worked so hard on Cogniti, we now have a powerful tool that puts educators in control and allows students to harness AI’s potential in a safe, responsible and productive way."
AI in education: an equitable and responsible approach
Professor Liu is a molecular biologist but has dabbled in coding since childhood. In 2022, he started experimenting with generative AI at home after hours.
"It was becoming clear how powerful and disruptive generative AI would be," said Professor Liu. "I was trying to figure out how we could give equitable access to our students, and how we could maintain the trust between teachers and students with AI coming into the mix."
In line with Professor Liu’s ambition to provide equitable access, the University has made Cogniti available for free to other universities and schools. It is being tested and used by approximately 100 educational institutions around the world. The University is also working with Microsoft to scale up the technology in a commercially sustainable way.
Professor Danny Liu developed Cogniti to "maintain the trust between teachers and students with AI coming into the mix".
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LinkInteracting with the AI ... meant I could practise communicating [with patients] with empathy and without jargon.
Isabella Ye
Speech pathology student
An AI assistant for any subject
At the University of Sydney, educators are building Cogniti AI agents to meet the specific needs of students in different subjects.
Dr Petra Avramovic, a lecturer in speech pathology, developed a Cogniti chatbot that acts as the parent of a child with a stutter. Her students converse with Cogniti, giving advice and honing their clinical communication skills.
For speech pathology student Isabella Ye, 19, the chatbot provided invaluable preparation for interactions with patients.
"Interacting with the AI felt much more authentic than role play with other students," she said. "It helped me identify that people skills matter as much as understanding the theory. It meant I could practise communicating with empathy and without too much jargon."
In the Faculty of Engineering, Dr Gobinath Rajarathnam is using Cogniti agents trained on highly technical material from chemical engineering courses. The AI agents can quiz students, provide instant feedback and reframe difficult concepts.
"Students know they can always come and talk to me," said Dr Rajarathnam. "But this empowers them to find meaningful, contextualised answers when it suits them. It helps me do more, more often, for more students."
"It’s our responsibility to teach students to use AI well"
In Dr Laura Case’s musicology course at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, students have access to a Cogniti agent trained on course material and the Socratic method, a teaching approach that uses questions to guide students to deeper understanding.
The AI agent is programmed so that it will not complete assignments for students but instead helps brainstorm ideas for essay topics and provides feedback. Dr Case said students who engaged with Cogniti drew deeper connections between the ideas and research they referenced in their assignments.
"AI was encouraging them to think more critically," she said.
"AI isn’t going anywhere so it’s our responsibility to teach students to use it well. When they’re using Cogniti, I can feel confident their data is protected, and that they can do the work themselves, with a bit of extra support."
Speech pathology student Isabella Ye has used Cogniti to hone her clinical communication skills. Photo credit: University of Sydney/Fiona Wolf
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