The recent partnership between LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne and Caktus AI has sparked controversy, with LSU itself releasing a statement warning of the potential for academic misconduct resulting from the use of the educational artificial intelligence tool. However, for Caktus AI, the investment in college sports’ most followed athlete has proven worthwhile. Started by former Notre Dame kicker Harrison Leonard and Michigan engineering grad Tao Zhang, the brand aims to reduce the time students spend on “meaningless writing assignments.”
Dunne has gained a massive following over the past 20 months since the implementation of name, image, and likeness (NIL) rules. She is as much a social media influencer as she is a college athlete, and she has secured notable partnerships with Vuori Clothing, EA Sports, Body Armor, and Forever 21. With 11 million social media followers, she can guarantee brands unprecedented exposure for their products. This was precisely what Caktus AI was hoping for.
Caktus’ platform features a range of tools for students, including an essay writer, a paragraph generator, a personal statement writer, and a cover letter writer. It also has sections for math, science, and citation creation. In Dunne’s TikTok, she showed off the essay writer feature.
LSU’s statement on the partnership cautioned that while the institution supports the use of technology for academic purposes, using AI to produce work that a student then presents as their own could result in a charge of academic misconduct. The ethical implications of the use of artificial intelligence in an educational environment have also been called into question since the TikTok video was released.
Some have argued that promoting plagiarism in this manner is problematic, and that colleges should teach students not to do so. However, Caktus has not asked Dunne to take down the promotion, as she did not violate any rules. Her $3.4 million On3 NIL Valuation currently ranks third in the On3 NIL 100, behind only Arch Manning ($3.7 million) and Bronny James ($7.2 million).
Leonard has alluded to more deals with notable college athletes in the works, and there is no doubt about the return on investment with Dunne. Caktus’ name has been in plenty of headlines following LSU’s statement, and impressions on Dunne’s TikTok have jumped since the institution released its comments. The post has been viewed over 1.3 million times and received 50,000 likes, with comments disabled.
Leonard believes that the conversation about the use of AI in education is important and should continue. He stressed that Caktus aims to help students get started and think of new ideas by using the platform for research, rather than promoting the submission of pre-written essays. As more and more deals are made between college athletes and brands, it remains to be seen how institutions will adapt to the new reality of NIL.
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