Building custom chatbots provides faculty and staff a learn-by-doing approach for exploring the role of AI at Boston College
Building custom chatbots allowed us to move beyond general-purpose chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini and begin exploring what’s possible when we can customize a chatbot’s instructions and provide access to our own content.
Spring 2024 Pilot
During the spring semester of 2024, CDIL facilitated a chatbot pilot meant to help us learn about AI and begin growing a community of practice to help shape the role of AI at Boston College.
- Read about the vision for the pilot: “Learning with Course Chatbots: A Pilot.”
- Reflections on what we learned: Helping Chatbots Find their Purpose
2024-25 Purposeful AI Working Group
This year-long working group invites faculty to take an active role in shaping AI’s impact on education at Boston College. Through hands-on experimentation and collaborative reflection, participants will explore how AI might be purposefully integrated into their teaching in ways that align with their values and enhance student learning.
Participants will build custom chatbots for their courses and reflect on what they learn both about AI and their own teaching in the process.