Chatbot Helps Students Choose Courses

An anonymous reader shares a report: Leeds Beckett University has launched a chatbot to help prospective students find the right course. It follows the publication of A-level results in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Using Facebook Messenger's chatbot technology, students would be able to "assess their suitability" for different courses, the university said. But if they would prefer to speak to a human, "phone lines will continue to be open throughout the clearing process." The university's head of digital experience and engagement, Dougal Scaife, said: "We know that our prospective students already use lots of messaging software for communicating with their friends, such as Snapchat, WhatsApp, as well as texting, so developing a chatbot was a natural evolution in order to engage with our prospective students in a medium that is ubiquitous, familiar, and comfortable for them."

Does it have an trades tack and says this schools

[Joe_Dragon]

Does it have an trades tack and says this schools is not for you!

Like pulling up to one of them fast food places

[Neuronwelder]

No, no no! I said onion rings not fries! .. I don't know.. When you are going for the most important choices in your life, I would personally prefer a human, please.

automation by another name

[sittingnut]

in other words, cheap automation has, partially, replaced humans, in helping prospective students find the right course.
rest about this being similar to "lots of messaging software for communicating with their friends, such as Snapchat, WhatsApp," is just spin. deceptive spin too, since chatting with friends is different from chatting with so called "chatbot", that use databases and data analysis to chat.

Re:

[__aaclcg7560]

Someone found a copy of "ELIZA" [wikipedia.org] and installed it on the network. Problem solved.

Re:

[burtosis]

Who knows, maybe they were friends with Tey until Microsoft shut it down.

I imagine something like:

[bobstreo]

Chatbot: "Hi, there are a lot of openings in our SJW class track."

Student: "I only need the one required course so I can graduate."

Chatbot: "Are you sure you don't want a feminist history class?"

Student: "I only need the one required course so I can graduate."

Chatbot:"That course has no openings for the next 10 years from now, since it's required to graduate. Are you sure you don't want a class in Post Modernist Deconstructionism and it's role in Socialist Governments?"

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Auto-correct a very high possibility. Darn these texting kids these days! ;)

I got one the other day referencing the Virginian town of " Charoltte's ville ".
You know what had happened.

AI rights now!

[sacdelta]

Looking forward to the influx of student requests for a class in Establishing AI Legal Rights.

"They suggested I take it. Who am I to question it?"

Chatbots are old news.

[RackinFrackin]

Here's a commercial for one from the 80's.

Tomy Chatbot Commercial [youtube.com]

Getting help from the brainless?

[OneHundredAndTen]

The state-of-the-art in the chatbox world still remains pretty pathetic. Chatbots these days are better than the venerable, 50-year-old Eliza - but only somewhat better. These idiots are going to help students choose courses? Maybe students who require help from such totally stupid systems do not belong in college.