From Buenos Aires to Jerusalem: How Prof. Claudia Goldman Brings AI Into the Classroom

Prof. Claudia V. Goldman says her goal is to use artificial intelligence to solve real-world problems. Since July 2024, she has served as an associate professor in the Data Science Department at the Hebrew University Business School in Jerusalem.

Goldman was born in Argentina and moved to Israel with her family in January 1984, when she was 16. She finished at Jerusalem's Mae Boyer High School in 1986, served in the army, and then earned three degrees at the Hebrew University: a BSc in computer science, mathematics and electronics in 1991, an MSc in computer science in 1993, and a PhD in computer science in 1999. Her doctoral supervisor was Prof. Jeff Rosenschein, an award-winning scholar.

Between 1999 and 2005 she held research posts at Bar-Ilan University, the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of Haifa. She then moved to industry, working for three years as a team leader at Samsung Telecom Research in Herzliya, followed by 15 years as a research scientist in General Motors' research and development organization, also in Herzliya. She holds 24 patents and has published more than 50 academic papers.

In a recent interview at her Hebrew University office, Goldman described how she handles AI in her teaching. She tells students clearly when and why they may use AI tools, and requires them to credit the technology and explain how they used it. Fully AI-generated answers are not accepted, she said, and students know she can detect AI in their writing. Instead, she encourages them to brainstorm with AI while staying critical, for example by checking whether information is biased or whether a cited source actually exists.

She evaluates students through a mix of classwork, presentations, and discussions and activities that students organize for their peers, which lets her assess their understanding in person. The class also discusses human responsibility and values, and what kind of researcher, professional or person it is important to be.

Asked about Bill Gates's suggestion of a 'Human Reserved' concept, which would set aside some jobs for people, Goldman said the question is not a simple binary about which professions stay human. In her view, it is about understanding the benefits AI can bring in different roles and contexts, and the critical skills needed to strengthen them.

The Business School offers courses in this area, including AI for Social Good, Responsible AI, and When AI Meets Humans and Society. The Hebrew University also runs a Free Listener Program that lets senior citizens audit courses, and the fall semester is now beginning.

At General Motors, Goldman worked on introducing learning agents into the vehicle user experience, so that drivers could stay focused on the road and better understand autonomous driving functions.

On her family background, she said her grandparents came to Argentina before many relatives were murdered in the Holocaust. Her parents were born in Argentina, and she was their only child. She attended a Jewish school in Buenos Aires through seventh grade, studying in Yiddish, Hebrew and Spanish, and later added public secondary school in the mornings. Her father had long wanted to leave Argentina, and in 1983 she told him, "The only place I can see myself growing up is Israel." The family made aliyah six months later.

She met her husband, Prof. Roy Shenhar, a full professor at the Hebrew University's Institute of Chemistry, on the Givat Ram campus, on the stairs of the Ross Building. After they ran into each other a third time, he honored the Hebrew custom that the person met unexpectedly three times owes the other ice cream. That was in 1995, and they married in 1999.