Automating Chalkboard support processes using a chatbot
Date
2019-04
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Abstract
This project seeks to apply natural language processing techniques to automate the
support processes of Chalkboard Education, a startup in Ghana. The company has many
users but currently has only two operations personnel responsible for responding to
customer queries. Their support processes can be made easier with the use of a chatbot. The
project references work from early chatbots like ELIZA and Cleverbot as well as more
recent ones like MOOCBuddy and SuperAgent. The chatbot is built on RASA Natural
Language Interpreter and uses third party APIs like Twilio and Database connections to
mirror human support processes. Upon implementation, the chatbot is suitably able to
perform the repetitive human tasks the operations personnel were carrying out, successfully
and in shorter time. In the event that the chatbot cannot handle a query, the problem is
forwarded to the aforementioned operations personnel. Upon evaluation, it was discovered
that the chatbot has could improve its accuracy and effectiveness with techniques such as
adding more training data and using different language models for embeddings. In the
future, the chatbot can be implemented via a USSD application to enable Chalkboard
capitalize on the prevalence of USSD application in Africa.
Description
Applied project submitted to the Department of Computer Science, Ashesi University, in partial fulfillment of Bachelor of Science degree in Management Information Systems, April 2019
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Applied project
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Keywords
start-up, Chalkboard Education, chatbot, customer service support, dialog systems