Author: LabManager

AskJill in SkillSync: Explanation and Trust in AI

SkillSync is an NSF-funded effort engaging an industry-academia consortium led by EduWorks and including Georgia Tech, the University System of Georgia, Credentials Engine, and several other partners. The goal is to build an AI application that enables companies to succinctly express reskilling needs for their workforce and helps colleges describe their educational offerings and respond to companies’ needs. The interactive tool better aligns job requirements and opportunities with reskilling knowledge, skills, and abilities, and distills these reskilling needs to universities in a way that matches specific learning outcomes.

When using SkillSync, both employers and educators can ask questions to a virtual coach named AskJill that is based on Georgia Tech’s virtual teaching assistant Jill Watson. AskJill helps explain SkillSync’s vocabulary, functions, and processing, thereby making it more transparent and trustworthy to its users. AskJill in SkillSync is a collaboration between the Design & Intelligence Laboratory and C21U.
Link: http://www.skillsync.com

New Paper Accepted Into Design Science Journal

The paper “Multifunctional and Domain Independent? A Meta-Analysis of Case Studies of Biologically Inspired Design”, written by Ashok Goel and William Hancock, has just been accepted into the Design Science Journal, the flagship journal of the Design Research Society! More information about the publication can be found here: http://dilab.gatech.edu/publications/multifunctional-and-domain-independent-a-meta-analysis-of-case-studies-of-biologically-inspired-design/.

Peter Carragher

Peter is a Master’s student in Computer Science at Georgia Tech. He is currently working on the Jill Watson project and as such is actively learning about knowledge-based Q&A and educational technology. His general interests include natural language processing and computational social science.

Patrick Westervelt

Patrick Westervelt is pursuing a Master’s in Computer Science, under the Interactive Intelligence specialization, and is currently working on the SAMI project. His interests pertain to artificial intelligence and human computer interaction. Patrick holds a BA from Emerson College, and outside of work and school, enjoys cooking, making music, and spending time with his pets.

Vrinda Nandan

Vrinda Nandan is a research scientist and faculty member working on the AskJill, Jill Watson, and VERA projects in the DILab. Her research focuses on software design, development, and product management for artificial intelligence question answering agents. Vrinda holds an MS in computer engineering and an MBA. Her research interests include Natural Language Processing, Question Answering Agents, Explainability, and Ethics in Artificial Intelligence. Outside of DILab, Vrinda loves traveling, cooking, and spending quality time with her family.

Luke Eglington

Luke Eglington is a research scientist in DILab and contributes to the VERA, Jill Watson, and SAMI projects. His research focuses on developing and optimizing adaptive instructional systems (AIS) by accounting for principles of human learning and attention. For example, Luke recently published a paper showing how to create an AIS for maximally efficient spaced practice. Other research interests include individual student differences, mathematical models of learning, metacognition, and visual attention.