Meet 鈥�,鈥� an AI-powered career exploration guide. It鈥檚 a chatbot that can help students in Oregon brainstorm possible careers, create action plans for how to get their dream jobs, prepare for an interview, and even stay motivated.
Sassy鈥攕hort for Sasquatch, Oregon鈥檚 鈥淏igfoot鈥濃�攚as created by the Oregon Department of Education in partnership with the nonprofits Journalistic Learning Initiative and .
It鈥檚 part of the state鈥檚 investment in expanding career-connected programs to engage students in relevant learning, complete unfinished learning, and improve their mental well-being and sense of belonging, according to a statement from the state education department.
The development of the AI tool comes as more states and school districts are emphasizing career readiness. In 2023, 47 states passed career-education laws, with a majority of the new laws adding accountability measures for the programs and supporting for schools.
Education Week interviewed Ed Madison, a University of Oregon professor and executive director of the , about the chatbot and how he envisions students and teachers using it.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
How did this chatbot come about?
Because our nonprofit has contracts with the Oregon Department of Education in several areas around [career and technical education or CTE], we proposed creating this Sassy tool. If you go to , we manage the development of that. We also have a whole series of videos that we鈥檝e created for the state under .
So this [chatbot] was kind of an extension. If you鈥檙e going to have this web portal, how can we help students, even at the middle school level, start to explore different areas of potential futures?
What鈥檚 the benefit of using a chatbot interface?
First of all, we know that the adviser or guidance counselor-to-student ratio is pretty high. [Sassy is] a way for young people to explore鈥攇enerally under teacher supervision鈥攄ifferent opportunities, but also to copy and cut and paste that into a document, so when they do sit down with the counselor, they actually have something, a basis, to work with.
It鈥檚 not designed to replace human professionalism or expertise, but actually enhance it. Counselors are sort of having to repeat rote information, as opposed to really having more substantive time with the student who they鈥檙e advising to get into the specifics of the student鈥檚 interest or needs.
The conversation so far around AI has been around concerns about cheating, when really the conversation should be more about, how do we harness this new tool in a way that empowers kids?
What information is it trained on? Does it collect any data?
It doesn鈥檛 collect any personal data. As a matter of fact, if you try to enter information, it鈥檒l say, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 need your personal data. Thank you.鈥� It鈥檚 not really necessary for the narrow function that it performs. And I know everyone鈥檚 talking about what happened in Los Angeles鈥攖hey were trying to do too much with their tool, but in the narrow nature of what we鈥檙e doing, we don鈥檛 need personal data. It鈥檚 not an area we want to get into because of FERPA (the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) and all the other issues related to that in terms of the documents or what it鈥檚 drawing from.
The state of Oregon, like most states, has generated guidebooks and pamphlets and all kinds of career and technical education helpful material. These materials are things that you can, on your own, probably go and find and turn to a certain page and address a question or concern that you have. But the ability of AI to actually tap that information as needed, as specific to your question at that time, is something that AI allows that I don鈥檛 know that there鈥檚 another way to do so efficiently.
When you open the chatbot, Sassy gives some options for what you can ask. How did you decide on those?
Our mandate is to make sure our students are prepared to enter the world of work. I intuitively realized that there鈥檚 some gaps that happen in the career readiness space that I wanted to address. It鈥檚 one thing to just give young people a tool that explores possible careers, but then does it also prepare them for job interviews, or does it prepare them for the follow up? Does it help them stay motivated?
How do you envision students using this tool?
What we need is more opportunities to honor students鈥� interest. 69传媒 come to school with all kinds of interest, most of which don鈥檛 get honored. The example that we give is that a kid can say, 鈥渉ey, I鈥檓 interested in video games,鈥� and in many classrooms, teachers would not necessarily respond in a way that honors that kid鈥檚 interests. However, video game designers make a lot of money. It鈥檚 a growing area.
Here鈥檚 a chance for a kid to just share an authentic interest and get some feedback and learn: 鈥淥h, by the way, there鈥檚 a degree program at University of Oregon, or there鈥檚 a community college that offers this.鈥� Or, 鈥淗ey, have you thought about looking at these companies that create games and going after an internship?鈥� and 鈥渉ere鈥檚 how you would prepare to get that internship,鈥� and those kinds of things.
The conversation so far around AI has been around concerns about cheating, when really the conversation should be more about, how do we harness this new tool in a way that empowers kids?
