Meet KPU’s AI chatbot Ivy

Have a question? Ivy — Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s artificial intelligence chatbot — may have the answer.

The AI assistant, adopted last August, was limited to the IT service desk. In May, Ivy expanded to include KPU International, the Office of the Registrar, alumni affairs, and student services.

Ivy is a “vendor-operated solution” that was developed externally by Gravyty, an AI-powered platform, Peter Siermacheski, KPU’s director of IT business services, wrote in a statement to The Runner.

KPU manages Ivy’s content, knowledge base, and configuration to ensure accuracy, Siermacheski adds.

Ivy is not introduced as an AI chatbot, rather a “virtual assistant.”

Siermacheski wrote that Ivy is classified as a “virtual assistant” as it employs “conversational AI technologies to support users.”

Ivy helps create IT service desk tickets, answers questions about various KPU services, and can connect to a live chat with student enrollment services staff when needed, Siermacheski wrote.

Faculty senator Mike Larsen says he is a significant skeptic of AI, adding that he does not embrace it in his teaching.

“I view [AI] as a way to short-circuit critical thinking and cognition that I think is so integral to the education process,” says Larsen, who is also the chair of the teaching and learning senate standing committee.

“There are certainly ways to use AI responsibly, creatively, and in a way that educates, but it’s also a powerful short-circuiting technique, and I’ve seen it work that way many times,” he says.

Despite his skepticism, Larsen thinks Ivy is a useful triage tool.

“For any institution, navigating the website and finding the information you’re looking for, which is often fairly spread out, can be really challenging,” Larsen says. “So, chatbots can be useful for running that initial pass and connecting people to the obvious information.”

KPU journalism instructor Chad Skelton says AI tools like Ivy are far from a fad.

“I think these tools are legitimately impressive, … and I think they’re going to change a lot of industries [and] a lot of jobs. I think knowing how to use AI is going to be essential in a lot of careers,” Skelton says.

He adds that while he is an AI enthusiast, he is not an AI apologist, and society needs to deal with the technology’s issues.

“At the university, I could see a lot of areas [for] Ivy where there’s a lot of repetitive questions … that maybe AI could help [with],” Skelton says.

Siermacheski wrote that Ivy may see a long-term expansion to human resources and facilities. 

“Any future chatbot initiatives would be evaluated based on institutional needs, priorities, user feedback, and opportunities to improve service delivery,” Siermacheski wrote.

KPU’s core AI practices include being respectful, secure, explainable, accountable, ethical, accessible, and sustainable.

Larsen says that he hopes people continue to have a healthy discussion about AI.

“I would love to encourage people … to engage in the conversation, not just ‘how do I use this’ and ‘can I use this,’ but to really talk about the ethics,” Larsen says.