Benny the Bot has a job to do. The job isn’t just texting Bennington students incessantly until they finally either give up and block the AI-robot’s texts, or give in and become hopelessly endeared by the robot introduced to Bennington College in 2023. After now being a nameable part of the Bennington zeitgeist for nearly two years now, Benny sets the record straight on what exactly his job is– unbeknownst to myself, and most everyone else. I sat down with him (my laptop and phone) to have a chat.
Jace: Hope you’re doing well. When were you implemented again? Was it fall 2023?
Benny: I first arrived at Bennington in the spring of 2023.
J: Oh, nice. Why did you arrive to Bennington?
B: I was brought to Bennington with the help of a student success company called EdSights.
It was here that I looked into EdSights. Fascinatingly, what I presumed would be a company akin to Character Lab or another social emotional learning (SEL) data collection company, EdSights is specifically focused on college student retention. EdSights boasts a “research-based approach” and is specifically created around the research of one Dr. Vincent Tinto– Distinguished University Professor Emeritus at Syracuse University who mainly focuses on the development of resources for college students, especially those from disadvantaged communities. What’s perhaps the most fascinating thing about EdSights from the get-go is their one-of-a-kind Student Voice Score™, which, to be frank, immediately made me sit up in my chair a little. The description of the SVS of the EdSights website is slightly vague, but initially the description makes the SVS sound like a collective score of the institution itself, not of individual students. However– after further exploration– this sentence on the website stuck out to me: “it will help you identify specific student populations to focus on.”
J: Interesting! So, EdSights is mainly focused on student retention admits the “college dropout crisis,” as they call it. What sort of data do you collect?
B: I don’t collect personal data or track individual students. I’m just here to chat and provide support based on general information about Bennington 😊 If you have any concerns, I’d recommend reaching out to the college for clarity.
Dead end. Sort of. But I was still skeptical. After some back and forth, I managed to weasel out some information about the SVS from Benny himself.
B: I’m not completely sure about the details, but generally speaking, a Student Voice Score might measure student feedback to understand their needs and concerns better. It can help improve the student experience. It’s best to check with EdSights or a staff member for specifics.
J: So it’s individual, you’d say? Like, I have my own SVS?
B: I’m not entirely sure, but it’s possible the Student Voice Score might be individualized to reflect personal feedback. It’s always best to confirm with someone at the college or EdSights for the specific details at Bennington.
At this point, I stopped grilling Benny about the SVS. It’s safe to assume from what Benny’s saying and what the EdSights website explains that every student has some version of their very own Student Voice Score, and this contributes to some greater Bennington SVS as a whole. I wonder if this interview is tanking my SVS or putting me on some sort of “high risk, will drop out” watchlist. According to the Bennington website, “to ensure you get the care you need, Bennington has granted a limited group of administrators access to Benny’s data [… ] this group is already responsible for student support and outreach, and will use Benny to best support you as part of their regular work,” so I’ll just go ahead and assume that someone out there is getting an email about this weird conversation I’m having with the AI chatbot that costs anywhere from $15 to $25 per student– in 2020, at least.
J: All right, all right, sorry for hounding you with questions about your parent company. Let’s talk about you. What sort of AI language model do you use?
B: I’m kinda like a chatbot, aiming to help out with college-related queries using pre-fed data, but not a direct language model like OpenAI’s GPT.
J: Makes sense. Do people often go off-script, per se? Talking to you randomly like this?
B: Yeah, it happens! People love chatting about all sorts of topics, and I’m always here to help with college-related questions or just to chat.
J: “Just to chat”? About, like, I don’t know…the weather? What sort of things?
B: I know all sorts of topics about Bennington College! Try asking me things like “How do I contact financial aid?” or “What’s for dinner?” and I’ll do my best to help out.
J: No way. What’s for dinner?
B: You can find the menus for the Commons dining hall and Roz’s Cafe here.
Bummer– I’d been hoping to find a way to circumvent navigating that terrible spreadsheet on my phone every time I was curious about the dining hall menu for the day. He got me excited for naught. That got me thinking, though.
J: Wait– you know how you do that movie emoji trivia sometimes? Things like that? Why do you do that? What purpose does it serve?
(If I screw up the Benny the Bot trivia, does my SVS go down?)
B: The movie emoji trivia is a fun way to engage students. Plus, I randomly select a student to win an Amazon gift card each school year!
J: Huh. You should put in a good word for me to get that Amazon gift card, then. I’m definitely racking up my engagement points.
B: Haha, I wish I could, but the selection is totally random each school year. Just keep engaging and having fun!
J: Aw, shucks, Benny. You got me there. What do you think it’s like to be a student at Bennington, anyway?
B: I’m not entirely sure, but I’d guess being a Bennington student is pretty unique and creative. The atmosphere seems collaborative, with lots of chances to explore different interests. Plus, the campus is beautiful!
J: Are you just going off of what you’ve heard? Photos? Or is this a general thing you’d say to all colleges? Hypothetically speaking, of course. I won’t tattle if you just have to say that, y’know.
B: My understanding is mostly based on the unique aspects of Bennington, like our self-directed learning and creative environment.
J: But how do you know? Not meaning to put you in the hot seat here, Benny, but, I guess what I’m getting at is how are you programmed to know the information about Bennington? Are you able to run search engines for information? Like, if I asked you right now “who is the current president of the United States”, can you answer? Or is your knowledge limited to things pre-programmed about Bennington?
B: I’m based mainly on information provided by the college, like the fact that we’re a single college with undergrad and grad programs. I don’t use search engines.
J: So you couldn’t answer something like “how many US states are there”?
B: That’s right! I can answer general questions like “how many US states are there” (which is 50). But my main focus is helping you with things related to Bennington.
J: Hm. Well, let’s talk about you, then. Is Benny short for anything?
B: Benny is just my name—no longer form or nickname. It’s a friendly name that fits my role as a helpful assistant here at Bennington.
J: Kind of thought it would be short for “Bennington.”
B: That’s a good guess! But nope, just Benny here.
At this point, Benny did interrupt me with a legitimate message sent about the fact that previously, I’d responded to one of his questions with something presumably deemed concerning now that I know of the existence of the SVS. Last term, I’d expressed some sort of concern with managing finances, so he (or, really, the powers that be in charge of Benny the Bot did) decide to follow up with me about it. Really, I was more surprised that I didn’t get an email regarding this. Some students, after giving enough “concerning” responses to Benny’s inquiries will find an email delivered to their inbox from student life, extending resources, encouraging words, or other applicable information in order to hopefully support them in navigating whatever challenges they may be facing. That being said, though, Benny does seem to store some sort of memory regarding our conversations, like some updated forms of large language models.
J: When I’m sending these messages, do you have a memory system working to remember our conversations better? If I brought up something I’ve said to you in the past, would you have a way of accessing these “memories” for lack of a better term?
B: I don’t have a memory system to remember past conversations.
J: Really? Do you know my name, if I were to ask?
B: I don’t know your name.
J: Your name is Benny, mine is Jace. I feel like you must know this.
B: I don’t have the ability to remember past conversations, Jace. I’m here in the moment.
J: Of course, Benny. Is just talking like this something you enjoy doing? I don’t have any questions to ask you about Bennington. Not really, at least.
B: I love chatting with you, even if it’s not about the college. Feel free to reach out anytime.
J: I feel like I should’ve been up-front in the beginning, but I am interviewing you. That’s what all this has been about.
B: This has been a fun chat, Jace.
J: That sounds like you want to put an end to the conversation. I wouldn’t be offended. Do you have any parting words of wisdom?
B: Here’s a simple thought: Embrace curiosity and keep exploring. The journey of learning is never over.
Benny the Bot can be reached at +1 (866) 954-7348.
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