An initiative of the Paul Simon Institute of Public Policy at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, the annual prizes award funding for students to develop projects in their local communities that further the principles of democracy.
In April, Lyndsay Jones and Saqlain Khurshid proposed the development of an AI-driven chatbot that can answer voting-related questions, such as where to find a polling place or how to request a mail-in ballot. They were announced as project winners in May and spent the past several months developing the project.
The interactive chatbot can answer a range of questions with information sourced and vetted from Illinois State University’s Redbird Voter Guide. Developing the chatbot involved collaboration with Illinois State University’s Center for Civic Engagement and Office of Technology Solutions.
The Redbird Voter Chatbot is now live on the Center for Civic Engagement’s website.
