A framework to implement AI-integrated chatbot in educational institutes

The purpose of this paper is to explore the usefulness of chatbot in educational institutes such as schools and colleges and to propose a chatbot development plan that meet the needs. Usually chatbots are built for one specific purpose, for example, to answer general queries prospective students might have regarding admission. This paper aims to provide an artificial-intelligence(AI) integrated chatbot framework that can help develop a multi-use chatbot. Study is based highly on qualitative data collected from case studies and journal articles. Primary data is also collected from interviews and questionnaires presented to appropriate staffs and students in college, in this case, Middle East College. Integrating AI into the chatbot to make it self-reliant, intelligent and learn from user interaction is necessary to make it deal with multiple fields. This requires complex algorithms, database management and extensive labor, thus making it very costly. However, if developed, this single chatbot can help students, faculties and other staffs greatly, not just as an assistant in answering frequently asked questions, but also in learning and teaching. The chatbot can be integrated with mobile app making it a part of daily life. Due to over complexity, the chatbot will first developed for use in one field then gradually expanded to other. A chatbot built for multiple purposes certainly holds more complexity than a single general purpose chatbot. This being said, having the software developed and tested in real life would have helped to better understand its flexibility and functionality.