AI’s potential to break down language barriers
Research shows that parental involvement in a child’s education leads to positive student outcomes – including academic success, social and emotional development, better attendance and graduation rates.
So when Kelvyn Park Junior & Senior High School principal Keith Adams noticed that many Spanish-speaking parents felt excluded due to the limited bilingual resources at the Chicago-based school, he was determined to do something about it. “In the summer of 2023, I set out to develop a solution to the decades-long parent engagement challenge we faced as a school due to language and cultural barriers,” Adams explained.
Adams initially spent time exploring the use of generative artificial intelligence tools to bridge the gap: “Although I had a crude (that’s a nice word for it) yet functional script, it lacked the dynamic component I had envisioned to ensure parents had access to the most up-to-date information that, for a school, is ever evolving.”
In fall 2024, Adams connected with ASU’s Artificial Intelligence Cloud Innovation Center (AI CIC), powered by AWS to explore a solution, which came in the form of an AI-powered chatbot named “Luisa.” The project – which is called mAIn Office – set out to design a bilingual platform experience powered by generative AI.
Creating real-world impact
Priyam Bansal, a second-year master’s student in computer science at ASU’s Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering and an Associate Cloud Developer at the AI CIC, played a crucial role as the backend developer for Luisa. “This project is particularly special because it is focused on inclusivity,” Bansal said. “It’s impacting people at the grassroots level, and that’s something that made it even more meaningful for me.”
She helped design a system that would be able to integrate with Kelvyn Park’s data sources — school websites, weekly newsletters and parent handbook — and implemented AWS’s Claude 3 Haiku large language model to enhance functionality. Using a web crawler, the team ensures that Luisa stays updated with the latest events and announcements.
Bansal also spent time training the chatbot, giving it prompts like “you are an AI-powered chat assistant, and you can speak in English and Spanish, and you’re here to help parents understand and get their queries answered about the Kelvyn Park School,” Bansal explained.
Flexibility, scalability and Luisa’s future potential
The AI CIC completed the prototype development for Luisa, and the vision is for the chatbot to live as a resource on the school’s website, where families will be able to easily access in the coming months. Users will be able to select their preferred language, which Luisa will remember for future interactions.
Additionally, Bansal designed the backend of the chatbot with scalability in mind; the chatbot is ready to incorporate additional languages as needed. “We’ve made the code flexible enough to add more languages,” Bansal explained. “Our approach is not really language specific: it’s focused on providing the flexibility to support multiple languages.”
The solution’s scalable design means other schools could adopt similar chatbots to bridge language gaps and enhance community involvement.
A vision of inclusivity through technology
While Luisa is still being reviewed by the school’s technology team for implementation, the collaboration showcases the transformative potential of AI-enhanced experiences, and demonstrates the AI CIC’s influence to reach beyond the Arizona region.
For Bansal and the AI CIC team, the Kelvyn Park project exemplifies how innovation can address real-world challenges. “Working at the AI CIC is a wonderful experience. We are mentored by people who are inspiring and knowledgeable,” said Bansal. “We are able to actually work on the practical aspects … seeing concepts in action, and how it really works in the industry and the real world.”
Bansal and the work at the AI CIC is in direct alignment with ASU’s charter, which speaks strongly about the importance of inclusion and access for all, “assuming a fundamental responsibility for the economic, social, cultural and overall health of the communities it serves.” In this case, the project extends this mindset far beyond the ASU community to serve the greater good of learners, their families and society as a whole.
The mAIn Office solution is available open source. To access the GitHub repo, visit the solution overview page and scroll to the Artifacts section. If you’re interested in customizing this solution and need support, contact the AI CIC team at AI-CIC@amazon.com.