Meet AJ, Rider’s new AI chatbot
By Brannagh Rattigan
With new technological advancements comes new controversy, especially in academic spaces. Rider has just introduced its very own artificial intelligence student support assistant, AJ, intended to guide prospective and current students through navigating college life. The integration of AJ is not without controversy, as feedback shows mixed feelings.
In a universitywide email from student affairs on Oct. 26, the Rider community was informed of the new tool operated through CollegeVine, as it introduced itself as an assistive technology in “registration, financial aid, housing and other student services.”
Tatiana Sciancalepore, the senior executive director of university marketing and communications, is currently serving as the point person between CollegeVine and the senior leadership teams working to put together AJ.
“There was a lot of research in the beginning and there’s certainly been a learning curve to it all because there are a lot of moving parts. Initially we did a lot of research just on what some of the priorities would be for the two agents,” Sciancalepore said.
The two agents are the enrollment agent for admissions and a student affairs agent for current students. To ensure that these agents align with the university’s priorities, Sciancalepore has weekly meetings with CollegeVine to go over the basics and make sure everything runs smoothly.
Mary-Alice Ozechoski, the senior vice president and chief of staff for student experience, explained that AJ is already in effect, operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week for currently enrolled students.
“It’s interactive, it’s on a student clock, not our clock which is 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. It’s available and accessible,” Ozechoski said. “We know that 30% of college students are working full time, and yet we have a system that is set up on this 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. mentality that doesn’t work for students.”
Christine Mehlhorn, Rider’s dean of students, who was responsible for the student affairs aspect of incorporating AJ into the university, shared how the clock AJ runs on is more beneficial to students than traditional means of reaching out.
“It increases the capacity to answer student questions. We know from the summer, it’s hard for financial aid, like OneStop, to manage the volume of people calling with questions, and students were upset that their questions were not getting answered in a timely way or they weren’t able to talk to somebody. That is going to eliminate this,” Mehlhorn said.
Mehlhorn additionally provided insight into how AJ accesses the information it gives out. In her role, Mehlhorn helped identify staff to help inform AJ’s database in order to answer questions properly.
As an example, Mehlhorn said, “It would know how many sororities and fraternities we have on campus, but what it can’t do is understand what it’s like to be in a Greek letter organization on our campus.”
In addition to the information it was fed through interviews with selected individuals, the chatbot also has the capability to pull facts from Rider’s website.
Another highlighted feature of AJ is its ability to soft transfer students when questions cannot be answered appropriately.
“If it can’t answer a student’s question, it’s going to take your information and send it to the relevant person who can answer those questions,” Mehlhorn said.
On this topic, Ozechoski shared that AJ’s ability to redirect a student eliminates the notion that real people are no longer needed.
“Does it replace staff on campus? No. You still need to go interact with people,” Ozechoski said.
Mehlhorn stated, “We’re not hiring any less people. We’re not trying to reduce staff or anything because we have an agent. The goal is to just improve customer service for students.”
Ozechoski also narrowed in on how the chatbot will be a great tool for prospective students from all around the world. Knowing 50 languages, AJ is inclusive to many different walks of life and can aid those who may be unable to visit Rider consistently.
“We’re trying to recruit students to come to Rider, and they may not come to the high school visit with our admissions counselor. They may not go to a college night. They may be from outside the region. This is a way for them to get information on their time, and then hopefully get them into the process of applying to Rider,” Ozechoski said.
With its capabilities highlighted, it is equally important to raise awareness to concerns over the assimilation of AI in an academic atmosphere. In the past, Rider students have shown negative feedback regarding the use of AI on the campus, whether it be in class assignments or posters for events.
Ozechoski, when questioned about how students’ responses to AI had been considered in establishing AJ, expressed that students always have the ability to make a choice.
“Students choose to use this. We’re not going to impose this on students. So, if you’re not in a space where you feel great about AI, I certainly understand that it’s complicated,” Ozechoski said. “There’s always complexity with new technology, but this is a choice to call and get information. If you want to choose the traditional vehicles and make an appointment in the office, that’s not going away.”
To ease any concerns on whether the AI will become corrupt or feed out incorrect information, Ozechoski shared a plan to oversee the technology.
“We’ll evaluate it. We will get metrics every six weeks or so to see how it’s doing. We will be able to correct it if it gives out wrong or bad information,” Ozechoski said.
Scianclepore expressed that she hopes to see a positive reaction from students, but realistically, understands that there will likely be more mixed feelings.
“It’s important to realize that this isn’t taking the place of any sort of creative work, which I know is a huge concern for students,” Scianclepore said. “I’m happy to have conversations further down the line about how it’s going and changes that we can implement in order to improve it. I think a big part of it will also be how our Rider community speaks to the tool.”
These mixed reactions are represented by Jonathan Voinski, a sophomore acting major, and Julian Hernandez, a senior cybersecurity major.
Talking about the agent geared toward prospective students, Voinski said, “I feel like, how are they really going to learn about the school if they’re talking to an AI who hasn’t actually been here? I also just think it’s better to talk to a real person.”
From an opposite perspective, Hernandez stated, “I feel like the best thing AI offers students, in this case and some others, is convenience. They are able to get answers to their questions and solutions to their problems in seconds.”
When asked if there should be an increase or decrease in the presence of AI on Rider’s campus as a tool for students, Voinski answered directly.
“Decrease, 100% decrease. Get rid of it,” Voinski said.
Hernandez said, “I don’t think there are many reasons to have an abundance of AI tools on campus, but if they are small and convenient and don’t replace someone’s job, then I say go for it.”
In the end, AJ is now a fully-functioning operating tool in Rider’s belt to aid current and prospective students in their college journey. While it may be controversial, those involved in its creation and integration into the university expressed trust in the foundation the chatbot is built upon, and an intention to correct it as necessary.
“What’s important is that AI is always used to boost, not to replace,” Mehlhorn said. “This is never going to replace our students or our staff’s brain power. It’s truly meant to improve customer service.”
To those who may be concerned, Scianclepore wants students to at least walk away with this in mind, saying, “This kind of technology can really propel us forward as a university, it puts us at the cutting edge of innovation and it puts us ahead of the line with emerging technologies and showing that we’re really putting the students first.”
Scianclepore shared that feedback is incredibly welcome and important to maintaining AJ. Overall, she wants the Rider community to be heard on this topic.
