Debunking 4 Myths of Conversational AI in Higher Ed

Debunk Conversational AI Myths
Staff

November 21, 2019

As artificial intelligence (AI) comes more into the forefront of the ed-tech space, there are still many misconceptions about this emerging technology. Conversational AI essentially consists of automated messages that understand language and communicate in a human-like way,  in an effort to create a more personalized customer experience on a larger scale. Here, we’ll discuss and debunk a few of the common myths surrounding conversational AI.

AI Myth #1: “Conversational AI will replace all of my staff.”

While a higher education chatbot will certainly assist your staff and make their job easier, it will not replace them altogether. Your staff can rest assured that their jobs are safe, as conversational AI simply can’t provide the full extent of personalized interaction or advanced problem-solving that a human can give. Right now, conversational AI is best for handling repetitive questions, so your staff can provide individual, personalized attention to the students who need it most.

Additionally, an AI chatbot for higher education will help reduce call volume while preparing students for their first day. Because a college chatbot can answer student questions immediately, students enjoy interacting with their chatbot, using it as a centralized resource that is often easier to navigate than websites, emails and phone numbers. This will become an invaluable tool to both students and staff, as assistance is more readily available any time of the day.

AI Myth #2: “Conversational AI can understand every question.”

As conversational AI continues to improve, it will become more and more likely to understand anything that’s thrown at it. As of now, some AI could still be thrown off by something as simple as a typo or certain terms that today’s students use.

The good news is that AdmitHub’s AI has been built with students in mind from the very beginning, and therefore does exceptionally well in this category. The knowledge base continues to learn from over one million students at over 80 partner institutions. AdmitHub’s technology has the ability to decipher messages with typos, slang terms, and emojis, while those things often confuse the average AI. To learn more about AdmitHub’s conversational AI, read “How does artificial intelligence work in chatbots?”. 

AI Myth #3: “Conversational AI will jeopardize student confidentiality.”

We all have concerns about privacy when it comes to the internet and texting these days. It’s reasonable to think that a student may lose confidentiality when using services that employ higher education chatbots, however, this simply isn’t true. AdmitHub’s chatbots do not ask for or collect personal information from students, in accordance with texting and privacy laws.

AI Myth #4: “Conversational AI will seamlessly predict student behavior.”

Humans are unpredictable beings, and as powerful as AI can be, it requires the most current full populated data at all times. And even then, it can be difficult to predict behavior. As long as you’re working with technology that can keep up, the AI will continue to learn and improve with each student question.

As this technology continues to grow, we will see it become more and more accurate. AdmitHub’s AI performs above the industry average, answering over 80% of inquires automatically the first time, even with common issues like slang, emojis, or misspellings, that could trip up other programs. Every question the AI encounters will provide more data, constantly improving the ability to predict student behavior. 

Conversational AI is certainly proving itself as a valuable addition to colleges and universities, with incredible positive outcomes that speak for themselves. It will be interesting to see the improvements this technology makes and how it solidifies its place in the future higher education.

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