UNSW Business, IBM collaborate on chatbots

The University of New South Wales Business School has announced that to date its students have solved 50 real-world problems for more than 30 businesses and non-profits using new technologies such as AI in collaboration with IBM.

IBM is supporting UNSW Business’ Product Analytics course, part of the Master of Commerce Marketing Analytics specialisation and the Bachelor of Commerce Marketing major.

The course gives students access to cutting-edge IBM technology, including the latest Watson-powered products, to create AI-powered virtual assistants that use natural language as part of their term project.

For example, students working with Scale Nomad created a lead generation chatbot for the start-up growth service provider. The chatbot is capable of identifying potential customers, forming relationships and answering customers’ questions in conversational English.

The course has been so successful that to date 11 countries have expressed their interest in hiring student interns who worked for their chatbot projects during the past year, and around 40 students have been offered internship opportunities to implement their proposed chatbots on companies’ websites or social media messengers.

UNSW students used the Watson Assistant platform and Node-RED for design and chatbot communication.

For IBM, the collaboration forms part of its commitment to provide 30 million people of all ages with new skills to equip them for the job markets of the future by 2030.

IBM Technology Garage Leader David Provest said virtual assistants are becoming increasingly ubiquitous for businesses across all industries.

“Today and in the future, building virtual assistants is a career skill that is highly desired by both enterprise and start-ups as more organisations look to adopt AI,” he said.

“Many aspects of AI application and design thinking are not limited to technology and engineering students — instead anyone can learn and add these skills to their toolkit and apply them to various parts of the business landscape. This is why IBM is committed to building partnerships with a range of organisations.”

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