The Department of Japanese's “Haruki Murakami and Modern Literature” course and the Department of Spanish's “Spanish for Tourism” course, both under the College of Foreign Languages and Literatures, coincidentally held their project presentations on June 12, showcasing students' use of AI tools in creating anime clips and videos. Both instructors praised the students' interdisciplinary performances. Distinguished Professor Chih-Yung Chang from the Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, who served as a judge, told the students, “Language majors, when combined with AI, will be empowered like a tiger with wings.”

Professor Chiu-Kuei Tseng of the Department of Japanese has long been dedicated to integrating AI into language education. In recent years, she has actively published and promoted her work. Notably, at the “Applications of Generative AI in Less Commonly Taught Languages (LOTE) Education” conference held at The Chinese University of Hong Kong in March last year, her paper titled “The Necessity and Fundamental Reset of Japanese Language Education in the AI Era: Practical Applications of Generative AI Technologies like ChatGPT and the Metaverse” garnered significant attention. The paper was later included in the publication “Will AI End Language Education?—An In-Depth Exploration of Foreign Language Teaching and Learning” (published by Kuroshio Culture). She has been striving to prove that, by embracing the trend of generative AI, language departments are far from being sunset industries and instead have a viable path to distinguish themselves, with language talents poised to play a vital role in the AI era.

In her elective course “Haruki Murakami and Modern Literature” offered to sophomores, Tseng guided 60 students to create one-minute anime shorts incorporating elements of Haruki Murakami’s works. Students had three minutes to present their work on stage, creating a dynamic and fast-paced session. One standout project, “The Small Joys of a Father and Daughter” (〈爸爸和女兒的小確幸〉) by sophomore Chih-Hsiang Lin, was presented at the 14th International Haruki Murakami Conference held at Kyoto University, Japan, on July 5-6, 2025. This is a shining example of how the university’s literature curriculum successfully integrates AI and shares its achievements with scholars worldwide.

Prof. Tseng praised the students' creativity. After a peer-review process, she will select five outstanding works to be sent to Haruki Murakami himself to encourage the students. Sophomore Yi-Fang Jian, who thoughtfully watched and commented on all the videos, shared with her classmates that even though similar tools were used in production, “what I saw in everyone’s videos was hope and possibility.” She noted each work's unique features and creative touches, emphasizing, “Your ideas, in my view, are irreplaceable by AI and are invaluable assets far more meaningful than AI itself.”

Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Spanish, Ai-Ling Liou, led the “Self-Directed Learning Course,” during which she invited Professor Chih-Yung Chang and doctoral student Tzu-Chia Huang from the Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering to teach script production for three weeks. Liou encouraged her students by saying, “With AI integration, the path for foreign languages can extend further and broader.” 7 student teams from the “Spanish for Tourism” course presented videos and posters produced using AI tools. Huang, who provided guidance and served as a judge for the presentation, expressed surprise at the students’ works. One team, in particular, produced content with the AI elements seamlessly blended with real footage, making it hard to distinguish between authenticity and fabrication. “It was almost like an official tourism advertisement!” he remarked.

In addition to presenting their group-made videos, the seven teams also shared their learning experiences on stage. With AI’s assistance, students not only learned how to generate images but also mastered prompt crafting and style generation. Spanish Department junior Wen-Chu Yang remarked, “Besides learning about Brazil, I also gained skills in conveying messages through visuals. “At first, it seemed very complicated, but after following the teacher's step-by-step guidance, it became much easier.”