System developed by Juji can politely respond to off-topic questions without losing focus

Chatbot builder Juji has unveiled a range of ‘cognitive AI assistants’ designed specifically to help universities deal with requests from their students.

Headquartered in Silicon Valley, the company was co-founded by Dr. Michelle Zhou and Dr. Huahai Yang, the inventors of IBM Watson Personality Insights.

“It’s challenging for universities to keep pace with thousands of inquiries coming in from current and prospective students and alumni, particularly at a time when resources are tight,” Zhou said.

“Cognitive AI assistants are the new generation of chatbots that will empower universities and other organizations to respond to incoming inquiries 24x7 and personalize these responses whenever possible.”

Streamlining for students

Juji claims its cognitive AI assistants “engage users in a more human-like interaction by actively listening to the users and automatically inferring their unique needs and wants” - as well as their interests and personality traits.

The derived user insights also provide human agents with a "cheat sheet" for follow-up interactions.

Zhou and Yang co-authored a paper earlier this year which details Juji’s chatbots politely responding to off-topic inputs without losing sight of the initial interaction’s purpose.

The company said its products can be set up and deployed within days with no coding or technical resources required.

Zhou added, “We are thrilled to be making AI accessible to universities and education institutions. Cognitive AI assistants are empowering universities to quickly respond to questions while building personal relationships with their students and alumni, streamlining operations, and helping increase enrollment.”

Last April, at the onset of the pandemic, Juji offered its chatbot services free-of-charge to healthcare organizations.