Argentine professor reshapes AI teaching

Artificial intelligence is no longer a distant concept for university students, and one professor is ensuring they master it before it masters them.

Claudia V. Goldman has taught at the Hebrew University Business School in Jerusalem since mid-2024. Her approach is direct. She tells students exactly when to use AI and requires them to credit the technology in their work. She rejects fully generated answers and maintains that she can detect machine-written text. Her goal is to force students to brainstorm with the tool while staying critical. They must check for bias and verify that cited sources actually exist.

Goldman evaluates understanding through a mix of classwork, presentations, and peer-led activities. These in-person interactions allow her to assess real comprehension. The curriculum also covers human values. Students discuss the responsibility that comes with using advanced technology and the kind of professionals they intend to become.

Her teaching style is rooted in a long career that spans academia and industry. Born in Argentina, she moved to Israel in 1984 at age 16. She earned three degrees at the Hebrew University, finishing her PhD in computer science in 1999. She held research posts at Bar-Ilan University, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and the University of Haifa. She later led a team at Samsung Telecom Research in Herzliya. She spent 15 years as a research scientist at General Motors in the same city. She holds 24 patents and has published more than 50 academic papers.

At General Motors, she worked on learning agents for vehicle user experiences. This helped drivers stay focused and understand autonomous driving functions. She recently discussed the concept of keeping some jobs exclusively for humans. She argued that the question is not a simple binary. It is about understanding the benefits AI brings to different roles and the critical skills needed to strengthen them.

The Business School offers courses on these themes, including AI for Social Good and Responsible AI. The university also runs a program that allows senior citizens to audit courses for free. The fall semester is currently underway. Goldman met her husband, Roy Shenhar, on the stairs of the Ross Building on the Givat Ram campus. They married in 1999 after he treated her to ice cream following their third unexpected meeting.

Her personal history also shapes her perspective. Her grandparents fled the Holocaust to Argentina, where her parents were born. She attended a Jewish school in Buenos Aires until seventh grade. She studied in Yiddish, Hebrew, and Spanish. Her father wanted to leave Argentina for a long time. In 1983, she told him that she could only see her future in Israel. The family made aliyah six months later. She finished high school in Jerusalem and served in the army before starting her university studies.