Insight Enterprises suits up AI chatbot for South Australian education

Insight Enterprises has fitted out an artificial intelligence- (AI) powered chatbot – claimed to be the first of its kind locally – with an interface for students in South Australia.

Named EdChat, the chatbot was designed by the South Australia Department for Education in partnership with Microsoft and uses Azure OpenAI, powered by the same tech as ChatGPT. The chatbot works with students entering prompts to get information on topics, ask for suggestions or analyse ideas.

To do so, users need to use EdChat’s interface, which was designed by Insight, which is the Department’s IT partner.

“EdChat is a truly inspiring example of how the education sector can embrace generative AI to deliver value to its most important stakeholders – students,” said Veli Mati-Vanamo, Asia Pacific (APAC) CTO for  Insight.

“This breakthrough technology empowers students to take control of their own learning, improve their academic performance, and develop essential skills for their future careers.”

Microsoft claimed in a statement that EdChat is the first of its kind in Australia and “one of the first in the world to be introduced in an educational setting”.

The chatbot underwent an eight-week trial period in August this year, with over 1,500 students and 150 educators from eight schools participating. School principals had full control over the number of students and staff using EdChat and how it was used.

When faced with the limitations of the chatbot, such as hallucinations, this was used as a learning experience, according to Mitcham Girls High School principal Rosie Heinicke, which was one of the schools that participated in the trial.

“Students were cross-checking EdChat’s answers and occasionally finding inaccuracies or improper sources,” Heinicke said. “[Rather] than that be a disappointment to them, they took it as a chance to learn how to ask more targeted questions and how to interrogate the answers provided to them.”

The chatbot also uses the Department’s existing Microsoft technology usage for data collection and secure storage; safety measures and controls such as the Azure AI Content Safety service were built into the system due to the service being hosted in its private tenancy, which can detect and block potentially harmful content going into and coming out of the system.

Additionally, comprehensive logging of interactions keeps student data secure and gives school staff visibility over usage at any time or location, including outside of school time.

Martin Westwell, chief executive of the SA Department for Education, said EdChat was created due to tools such as ChatGPT entering the market and wanted to establish “the skills of the future”.

“We realised that if this tool is out there and if it’s going to transform the future workforce, the only question to ask ourselves is ‘how do we learn to use this safely and ethically to positively impact teaching and learning?’” said Westwell. “EdChat is the first step in our strategy to maximise the value AI can deliver in the education space while minimising the risk.”

Following the trial, the Department is looking to widen its use across the state, said the Department’s chief information officer, Daniel Hughes.

“Our next steps are to get EdChat out to the schools and students who stand to benefit the most from AI,” Hughes added. “Schools in remote or rural areas and those that serve communities in lower socioeconomic areas can explore differentiated learning and other ways to use AI to drive equity in education.”

In August, Insight Enterprises Australia announced it had increased both sales and profits in the year to 31 December 2022 in its most recent financial results.