Given that the relationship between staff and students is so integral to higher education, it might seem strange to delegate any of it to a robot. However, universities are increasingly finding that using artificial intelligence devices known as chatbots can help that relationship by聽supplying聽vital information to students, assisting their learning and freeing up staff to provide the best teaching to their cohort.

In this era of ever-increasing online interaction, it is important that institutions use such tools,聽and that they use them in the right way, said William Confalonieri, chief digital officer at Australia鈥檚 Deakin University, adding that the future of education is 鈥渙ne of personalised learning and services, supported with modern tools鈥�.

鈥淭he only way of achieving that learning intimacy at massive scale is through powerful digital engagement that responds to the needs of a new generation of students,鈥� he explained. 鈥淎n artificial-intelligence-enabled personalised digital assistant can proactively engage with students via a conversational user interface, guiding them through study and life at university.鈥�

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To this end, Deakin developed its own in-house chatbot, . Not only does it provide information, such as timely prompts about deadlines or what the student should be preparing for, it also learns about their preferences and academic progress. This ensures that the information it shares and the way that it engages work for students as individuals.

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鈥淕enie鈥檚 intelligent engine helps students be more efficient by helping them get the most from their learning materials, study resources and Deakin鈥檚 network of study support services and systems,鈥� Mr Confalonieri said.

It also makes sure students stay engaged with peers and university service providers, he said. For example, Genie鈥檚 cues trigger students to connect with support staff and teachers where human engagement is important.

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Agnes Kukulska-Hulme, professor of learning technology and communication at the UK鈥檚 Open University, agreed that the benefits of chatbots can range from being 鈥渁 very simple way to give students another route for their questions to be answered quickly鈥� to offering more sophisticated support to individual learning.

Chatbots are evolving so they better understand language and expressions, and they can be used to support student well-being, she added.

Professor Kukulska-Hulme is a co-author of the annual聽Innovating Pedagogy report,聽which this year identified chatbots as a high-impact education trend and in which she highlighted how researchers from the Advanced Innovation Centre for Future Education (AICFE) at Beijing Normal University found that a chatbot could be used in 鈥渕oral education鈥�.

For example, when a learner expressed negative emotions, the bot could diagnose the cause by chatting and assess whether the learner had experienced unfair treatment. It would then suggest options and give guidance on how to deal with the issue. The results showed that the bot could mimic teachers with eight to nine years鈥� experience, according to the report.

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For Professor Kukulska-Hulme, another huge benefit of using chatbots is in language learning. 鈥淭hey offer learners so many opportunities to practise their language skills,鈥� she said. 鈥淎 lot of people hesitate when it comes to practising their new-found language skills for fear of being misunderstood or criticised, but with a chatbot it doesn鈥檛 matter. It can boost their willingness to communicate and give them valuable practice.鈥�

She pointed out that this could be applied to other disciplines or circumstances where learners might feel more relaxed and express themselves more freely if they聽were not interacting with humans who might judge them.

Professor Kukulska-Hulme said there would be challenges, including defining and declaring what happens with data, particularly if students share information that is particularly confidential. 鈥淚t might feel like talking to a human but it鈥檚 not,鈥� she said. Bots also don鈥檛 always respond to a person鈥檚 mood or state of mind appropriately, and 鈥減eople need to understand they are engaging with a tool that is clever but has some limitations鈥�.

Mr Confalonieri agreed there were challenges universities had to address when using a chatbot. For example, academics at Deakin were concerned it would provide too much assistance too easily, potentially inhibiting critical problem-solving skills.

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Therefore, Genie is 鈥渄eliberately designed to avoid 鈥榮poon-feeding鈥�, playing the role of facilitator rather than provider and supporting self-reflection and independent learning鈥�, he said.

He added that while machine-learning capabilities are developing exponentially, human intervention is still required to deal with the infinite ways people communicate and the many accents and cultures a university accommodates.

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If chatbots overcome these challenges, they can help improve student satisfaction and success and support graduate employability, Mr Confalonieri said. 鈥淚t prepares graduates for a 鈥榩ost digital鈥� future workplace, where chatbots and virtual smart assistants will augment most professions.鈥�

anna.mckie@timeshighereducation.com