By Keira Javois, Contributing Writer
On September 6, Saint Leo University launched their newest program—a chatbot named Leona—as an alternative way of interacting and communicating with students on campus.
Leona is an automated chatbot that assists students with both locating specific buildings on campus and connecting students with helpful resources, as well as acting as a friend and checking in with students regarding their mental health and overall well-being.
University campus students were given the option to opt-in to receive text messages from Leona regularly, which entails receiving a message from Leona every seven days of her checking in with students who may need assistance.
Due the chatbot being launched on September 6, Leona is essentially still in her beginning stages, which means that she is still in the process of learning how to respond to certain questions. However, in just a short span of time, Leona has proven to be an extremely helpful tool for both students at Saint Leo.
Dr. Mary Spoto, the vice president of academic affairs at Saint Leo, had the pleasure of helping to create Leona and provided some insight as to what Leona is capable of right now, as well as what she hopes Leona will be capable of in the future.
Spoto strongly encourages students who have opted into the service to ask her questions and interact with her as often as possible to help broaden her knowledge so that she is better equipped to assist students.
“She has to learn the variations and the way in which questions are asked, and as she does, she gets more comfortable with being able to answer no matter how you phrase it,” said Spoto.
She also encourages students to not give up, even if Leona is unable to answer a question right away, as she is still building her knowledge base.
“If you’re not getting the answer you want, that’s okay, keep asking her, because you’re helping her learn,” said Spoto.
Several students expressed their overall thoughts and feelings about their interactions with Leona.
“I really like the fact that the school is giving us a chatbot that we can use at any given time,” said Marissa Alves, a sophomore this year at Saint Leo. “It makes accessing resources and getting in touch with certain people so much easier.”
“She is a good resource for students to have. Even though she doesn’t seem to know much right now, I think it’ll get better over time,” added Salvatore Polizzi, a freshman at Saint Leo this year.
Over the course of such a short span of time, Leona has proven to be a success with students on campus. As time goes on, the university hopes that students can learn from and interact from her, just as she learns from them as well.
