ArchieBot Takes Flight

by Brandi Hess '00 M'22

THE IDEA for the chatbot began in fall of 2023 when Jason Provence, Senior Web Programmer, was exploring ways to help triage the hundreds of emails received by the web team and find a solution to better serve visitors while relieving the time involved in answering or forwarding those emails. "Many of the emails asked questions that could be easily answered on our website, if the visitor had searched for it," he said. "A chatbot can answer those questions immediately, plus prompt any follow up questions to support the visitor with any other customer service needs."

Last April, University Web and Digital Content launched its first AI-powered chatbot called ArchieBot. Accessible 24/7, ArchieBot draws its knowledge from USI's website, documents and instructions to help answer questions from prospective students, parents, current students, employees and the community. "ArchieBot doesn't mind if you have a question at midnight or on a holiday—it responds instantly, and always in a polite and friendly way," Provence said.

If ArchieBot can't provide a satisfactory answer, the conversation is handed off to a live person to follow up over email. Chat conversations are monitored to determine the questions being asked and the answers given to help the web team update website content or clarify instructions if ArchieBot is struggling on a certain topic.

"Its ability to help us communicate quickly and efficiently with our website visitors has been amazing," Provence said. "However, the most significant benefit has been its role in identifying knowledge gaps in our web content. By highlighting areas where we can add more information or better explain processes, ArchieBot has played a key role in improving the overall quality of our website."