Université de Genève
An answer for every student, at any time
With thousands of students and an administration spread across many services, the University of Geneva receives a constant flow of questions. In 2020, we developed an AI chatbot to give students answers immediately, day and night.
The challenge
Enrolment, deadlines, exams, documents, campus services: students ask many of the same questions, often at the busiest times of the academic year. The answers exist, but they are spread across many pages and services, and finding the right one takes time.
In 2020, as many exchanges moved online, the university wanted a simpler entry point: a tool able to understand a question asked in everyday words and point straight to the right answer.
Our approach
We started from the students’ real questions, grouped them by theme and built a knowledge base based on the university’s official information, so every answer stays reliable.
We then developed the chatbot itself: language understanding to recognise what a student is asking, however it is phrased, clear and short answers with links to the right pages, and a handover to the relevant service when a question goes beyond what the bot should answer.
The questions asked were used to improve the chatbot continuously: new wordings, missing topics and answers to clarify.
What we delivered
An AI chatbot available 24/7 that answers students’ most frequent questions in seconds and directs them to the right resources.
Fewer repetitive requests for the university’s services, and a quicker, simpler experience for students.
