ChatGPT for public education policies in Brazil

RNP (the Brazilian national research and education network) always seeks to innovate and improve the service experience for its users. The arrival of ChatGPT, the Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool that has caused a stir in social networks recently, is a great example of this. From the beginning, RNP recognised that AI presented an opportunity to take customer support to a new level, and carefully evaluated the technology.

Now, RNP is pioneering the use of ChatGPT AI for supporting public policies in education. Since 30 March 2023, AI has responded to questions from the public about Internet Brasil, a program that provides mobile data chips to pubic school students from low income households. The Program, which is an initiative of the Ministry of Communications (MCom), in partnership with the Ministry of Education (MEC) and executed by RNP, enables digital inclusion for students and their families by providing access to the internet and online information in a democratic way.

RNP’s technical team taught the AI ​​chat bot about the Internet Brasil program, so that it could assist both the beneficiaries and managers. The results have been surprising, with a success rate for correct and useful answers rating above 90%, and this will continue to improve as the AI bot continues to learn. Through the implementation of ChatGPT, RNP is able to leverage AI to deliver personalised responses to students. These responses demonstrate an understanding of complex contexts and facilitate the resolution of everyday questions and concerns about participation in the project.

Now, the team is working on the challenge of training the AI bot to take into account the cultural, social and economic complexity of Brazil. The goal is to facilitate a greater understanding of conversations, of the different ways of speaking, dialects and popular expressions. The team also carried out rigorous analyses of questions, with the aim of filtering out any that may cause offensive or prejudiced interactions.

There’s a lot of work ahead, but the RNP team is proud to be exploring ChatGPT technology as a new way to connect more people, institutions, ideas and solutions.