College of Charleston to debut AI Chatbot for student services – Live 5 News WCSC
CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) – The College of Charleston is harnessing artificial intelligence technology, or AI, to serve students this year using a chatbot they can text 24/7.
Starting on Aug. 29, “Clyde the Chatbot” will send a text to all students with up-to-date contact info in their school profile introducing the chatbot character and explaining how it is meant to help them.
Chris Korey, the Associate Provost for Student Success at the college, says leaders learned about the opportunity to harness AI this way at a conference for student success.
“I hope they’ll see that we’re excited to meet them where they are. In that text, it will introduce Clyde and his chatbot personality, but will also indicate that this is a service that we’re using and that there are humans behind it, and humans may reach out to them based on the interactions,” Korey says.
Korey says AI is becoming more and more a part of life and technology is how students are used to learning. The 24/7 AI chatbot will allow students to ask questions any time of any day and get a response, pointing them in the right direction.
“It can direct them to services that they can engage with in the morning, so they can start answering questions that we can’t answer since they’re not manning the phones or email. It also comes in a form that students are more likely to use email talking on the phone aren’t things they are doing,” Korey says.
The chatbot will also learn from the students as they interact with it. The responses will get more personally tailored to the student as the school year goes on. Students who opt into check-ins from the chatbot will also get proactive messages from Clyde to see if they need anything.
“Clyde will reach out to them every seven to 10 days and ask them a very specific question about that particular part of the semester, to engage in a conversation,” Korey says.
As the AI conversations continue, the college can monitor the needs of the student and step in if something serious or timely is needed. Korey reminds students that the chatbot is powered by AI, but the responses are being stored and monitored by a team of real people who can get involved, and sometimes take over to text the student more specifically.
“Say within the first couple of weeks a student feels like they’re already having financial difficulties affording college, we can help them within two weeks of them being on campus based on their interactions with Clyde, rather than waiting until the end of the semester when a student may reveal to us that they’re having issues with affording college,” Korey says.
Korey says AI is a major part of the future, and it’s important to incorporate it in the right ways during education.
“We’re beginning conversations about how to harness AI within our classrooms, how to get students to learn how to use it correctly. So, if you’re thinking about chat GPT – how are we educating students in the classroom about its uses how to use it in an ethical way,” Korey says.
He explains that at the College of Charleston, they want to use every avenue possible to serve students and continue adapting to the times.
“AI is not going to replace doctors and lawyers, it was doctors and lawyers, who know how to use AI will be the next generation. So our hope is we’re both engaging with them and helping them think about how they use it in the classroom in an appropriate way. But also, it’s a skill, you know, how can you use this to improve your business process or whatever job you can have on campus,” Korey says.
Clyde the chatbot is powered by a company called EdSights that is being used in more than 100 universities across the country in a variety of ways.
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