AI chatbot, ‘Skilly,’ to answer prospective Point Park University students' questions

Prospective Point Park University students may soon be asking admissions questions to an AI chatbot.

Skilly, a chatbot developed by SkillyAI of Pittsburgh, will assist Point Park’s admissions office in responding to questions from potential students and their families, said Marlin Collingwood, university vice president of enrollment management.

“We’re in the process of training Skilly, who will be deployed on our admissions and enrollment websites sometime mid- to late November,” Collingwood said.

People will be able to type an admissions question to Skilly who will then be able to provide an answer.

Point Park is in the process of loading the answers to commonly asked questions to Skilly, Collingwood said. Common questions range from admissions criteria, to test scores, scholarships and campus tours, he said.

A Point Park admissions counselor will oversee Skilly. All answers were approved by Point Park staff.

A prospective student or family member also has the option to opt-out of communicating with Skilly if they would rather talk to a human.

Currently, Point Park has a chat feature that is “pretty limited” and operated by a staff member intermittently, Collingwood said.

Adam Paulisick, CEO of SkillyAI, said Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh also use Skilly. Skilly can communicate in all languages.

Paulisick said the deployment of Skilly will give admissions counselors more time to give students more personalized attention as needed by not having to operate the chat function.

“We really want to make it feel like they’re talking to a member of the team,” Paulisick said. “It’s a way to continuously handle a large volume of inbound information.

“It will give back time to the experts to give back their expertise in a personalized and specialized way.”

That work by admissions counselors could include working with and reviewing students’ applications, assisting with financial aid processes and interacting with students and families on campus visits or tours.

Said Collingwood: “It allows (admissions counselors) to do the work they love to do, and that’s important to Point Park. It’s in no way replacing anyone.”

Skilly will also be able to give the admissions team feedback on most-asked questions, and can provide suggestions of how the university can market itself, Collingwood said.

Nationally, AI is playing a role in how high school students do their college search. A May survey from Carnegie, a higher education marketing company, found that 23% of high school seniors reported using AI tools like ChatGPT to explore colleges. In 2023, just 4% of high school seniors reported doing so.

“Higher education is no different than any other business or entity trying to figure out, ‘How can we best utilize AI without compromising anything we have in place?’” Collingwood said. “This opportunity with the AI chatbot is a really great entry for us.”