Emily. That is the name given to the chatbot. Or perhaps we should describe it as “a story you can engage in conversation with”, as VPRO does. Students Noah and Fenne, who developed the concept together with three other Journalism and ICT students, explain exactly what this means.
This actually happened a few months ago, when VPRO visited MindLabs for a hackathon. Various groups of students were presented with a case study for which they then had to come up with a solution. “We focused on the problems VPRO encounters when making documentaries abroad,” says Fenne.
On the run
‘Our case study was about a woman who had fled from China to Taiwan. It was a very important story that couldn't be told because the woman wanted to remain anonymous. This is something VPRO often struggles with: they collect remarkable stories that are lost because they can't do anything with them due to the element of anonymity. We came up with a way to “exhibit” the stories using AI.’
The solution is called Emily, a chatbot named after the woman who fled China. ‘We put her character traits and her story into an AI system, and it rolled out a kind of chatbot that you can ask questions,’ Noah explains. ‘In fact, you can talk to Emily without her having to appear on screen, so her story lives on.’
Characters
In the ten weeks following the hackathon, Noah, Fenna and three other students continued working on their prototype, resulting in an interactive globe that you can click on. Noah: ‘We collected more stories like Emily's and put them into the system. When you click on a particular country, you see a character with a common problem that is prevalent in that country.’
Kadir is one example, a Uyghur man whose life changed abruptly when the Chinese government began imprisoning thousands of Uyghurs in 2017. Or Tyrone, who was abused after fleeing from Uganda to Kenya because of his sexual orientation. And then there is Carlos from Mexico, whose dark skin colour makes him a target for bullying and discrimination.
The sequel
The aim of the chatbot is to enable you to chat with these characters about their problems in an accessible way. VPRO was so enthusiastic about it that the broadcaster decided to continue with it. ‘Funding has been made available and we have been asked to collaborate on it,’ says Fenne. ‘I am certainly open to that. We have worked very hard on this for weeks, so it would be a shame to leave it on the shelf.’
Source: bron.fontys.nl