Out-o-mat: AI provides guidance on studying abroad
Out-o-mat marks the first time an AI application has been put into productive use in JLU's President’s Office. It assists the Mobility Team in responding to initial inquiries and is intended to free up more time for personalized consultations. It took less than 90 days to go from a master’s thesis to a productive application.
What options are available for studying abroad in France for a semester? Where can I find information about partner universities and funding? The Mobility Team at the International Office receives these kinds of questions regularly. Out-o-mat uses a reliable knowledge base to generate appropriate suggested answers for these 'outgoing students' (hence the name Out-o-mat). Staff members review these suggestions, add to them or revise them as needed, and approve them for sending. The final decision therefore always rests with a human.
The goal is to streamline routine tasks and maintain the high quality of in-person counseling. Students should receive personalized guidance right from the first response and be able to prepare specifically for a counseling session. Initial tests involving 35 inquiries show promising results: About 70 percent of the suggested responses were usable as is or after minor revisions.
Together, from research to practice
Luis Rauch, a student from FB07, developed the AI component as part of his master’s thesis. The Mobility Team (AAA3) laid a crucial foundation for this with its process and information management system, which had been professionally developed over many years. The Digital Transformation Office (BfD), together with the Information Management department of the International Office (AAA1), oversaw the practical design and implementation of automation and production processes, as well as production rollout. The IT Service Center (HRZ) provides support by operating JLU's retrieval-augmented generation (RAG). The Information security officer and the information security manager are supporting the project by conducting information security audits and preparing a process description in accordance with BSI standards.
Next steps
Initially, Out-o-mat is intended to operate reliably in day-to-day work and ease the workload on the Mobility Team. The insights gained from its operation will help further improve the responses. Subsequently, we will assess whether this approach can be applied to other areas at JLU.
If you have any questions about Out-o-mat, please contact the Mobility Team or the Academic Infrastructure Staff Division.