The Centre for Learning, Teaching and Technology (LTTC) of The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) has announced the establishment and launch of the Large Language Model (LLM) Studio. The initiative aims to equip EdUHK teaching staff with LLM knowledge and skills and offer low-threshold solutions to utilise LLMs’ capacity to meet diverse educational needs.

On the day of launching, a delegation of senior management members and scholars of EdUHK visited the newly established LTTC LLM Studio, including President Professor John Lee Chi-Kin, Vice President (Academic) Professor May Cheng May-hung, Professor Xu Guandong, Director of LTTC and the Director of University Research Facility of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (UDSAI), Mr Edmond Kuo Hoi, Director of Finance of Finance Office, Dr Gary Cheng Kwok Shing, Executive Co-Director of LTTC, and Dr Henry So Chi Fuk, Associate Director of LTTC. Other LTTC staff including Dr Tina Ma Yunsi, Educational Development Manager of LTTC, Mr Will Ding Jiaoyang, Educational Development Officer of LTTC, and Dr Galaxy Cao Jiaxin, Assistant Educational Development Officer of LTTC, accompanied the tour and assisted Professor Xu to explain the recent work of LTTC LLM studio.

The LLM Studio launches a Model-as-a-Service (MaaS) platform that enables users to create LLM-empowered workflows with customised datasets and supplementary materials via LLMs. These workflows can be published as web applications or application programming interfaces (APIs) that can be opened directly in web browsers or embedded into learning management systems, such as Moodle. The studio also offers consultation services for other needs related to using LLMs, such as fine-tuning to create highly specialised LLMs with highly aligned datasets for a particular domain or better suit a specific educational context.

In addition to the MaaS platform, the LLM Studio organises workshops designed to provide teaching staff with strategies and skills for utilising LLM and LLM-enabled tools in various educational contexts. These workshops cater to different levels of expertise, from introductory to advanced, and aim to engage colleagues with the technology at a pace that suits their needs and abilities.

Professor Xu Guandong, Director of the LTTC, emphasised the significance of this milestone in the LTTC’s mission to empower education through generative artificial intelligence. “By providing access to cutting-edge tools and platforms, the studio aims to equip colleagues to explore what is possible in their expertise. We invite the educational community to explore the LLM Studio’s possibilities and join us in the mission to transform education through the power of LLMs,” said Professor Xu.

As the LLM field continues to evolve rapidly, the LTTC LLM Studio will continuously update the forefront of related technologies to develop and refine its workshops, MaaS platforms, and consultation services. More details about the LLM Studio can be found on the studio website at https://www.lttc.eduhk.hk/llm-studio.

The launch of the LLM Studio represents EdUHK’s commitment to harnessing the potential of generative AI to unlock new dimensions of educational experiences. With the appropriate tools and support, educators can generate more relevant, reliable, and accurate responses based on the specific context of their work, ultimately delivering more engaging and effective teaching and learning experiences.