Staying Smart with Artificial Intelligence

Institutions are continuing to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) to address many of their communication tasks, with good reason: students are increasingly comfortable using these tools. 

The generation of students currently studying at universities is accustomed to searching for information, shopping, and generally interacting online with bots as a primary resource. There is little aversion or hesitation in engaging across this interface.

The opportunity to meet prospective students online is available, and it is going to be imperative that institutions embrace this new technology in the coming years. With more than 55 billion messages sent per day on chat platforms, like WhatsApp, institutions need to be able to engage with mobile-savvy students.

The maxim “upgrade now or be left behind” may prove the key to success. With some context on chatbots, AI, and best practices, international educators can determine the right path forward for their institution.

Chatbots: A Primer

Chatbots are powerful machine-learning-based programs that allow institutions to personally engage at scale with students and faculty. There are chatbots currently used by institutions to not only help international students around the clock with admissions questions, but also to interact with enrolled students to make sure that they successfully navigate life as a student or graduate. For example, Arizona State University, Georgia State University, University of Memphis, and West Texas A&M use chatbot apps to manage queries about registration, student guidance, course feedback, and more. These chatbots help students and staff interact and collaborate in meaningful ways.

Some of these AI-powered conversational