Advait Paliwal, a 2021 Troy graduate, working with fellow Michigan State University students David Yu, Achyut Byanjankar, and Soami Kapadia, began working on an AI platform in January called YouLearn.ai.
YouLearn offers students customized content and smart tutoring.
"Our goal was to create a platform that enables students to learn better and learn in a way that is better for them," Paliwal said of the concept. "Every student is different and we want to make sure that we have a metric that assesses the mastery of the subject before moving on to the next."
The team entered it at SpartaHack 8, MSUs official student-run invention marathon or hackathon in late January. The event draws over 500 student developers and designers to East Lansing for 24 hours of learning, building, and networking.
The rudimentary YouLearn prototype created won "Best Hack to Improve Async Visual Communication and Knowledge Sharing," and after adding new material entered it in the statewide contest.
Paliwal said the platform is an alternative to ChatGPT, a natural language tool that allows users to have human-like interactions and more with a chatbot.
"ChatGPT is just a tool to input text and get text output; it is not made for learning," said Paliwal. "With YouLearn, instead of answering the question, it will ask a student how they are approaching the question. We want to enable these conversations between the student and our AI tutor."
Paliwal also said the aim of the platform is level the playing field so that all students can have access to the help they need in the classroom.
"Tutors are expensive and only the high income can afford it," he said. "AI makes tutoring more accessible and more personalized and pay a fraction of the cost of a human tutor."
AI tutoring has become the new method for students seeking help outside the classroom.
In May, Intelligent.com, an education industry group, surveyed 3,017 high school and college students nationwide to learn more about study habits over this past academic year and found 85% say studying with ChatGPT is more effective than studying with a tutor.
YouLearn currently has specialized content for tutoring in quantum mechanics, algebra, calculus and psychology, but Paliwal and his team are working on an overhaul of the platform based on student feedback. Although the site has received over 15,000 page views since its inception, he said feedback is more important than traffic to the site right now.
"What really has value to us is the one person who we impact," said Paliwal. "The views mean nothing to us. It is about the one student who tells us the product is helping them access videos or learning course materials."
Each of the five Innovation contest finalists will have a pitch presentation on June 29 and the first-place winner will receive $10,000 in business startup grant funding, plus branding and logo design support and legal help.
"As this contest has entered its second year, I'm heartened and inspired by the submission ideas we continue to see from Michiganders with a desire to say, 'I wish there was an app for that' in an educational setting," said Jamey Fitzpatrick, president and CEO at Michigan Virtual, a partner for the contest. "This contest is an opportunity for Michigan educators to directly impact classrooms by turning their dreams into reality."
"This is a really great way to bring out the hidden gems in Michigan where people are innovating and they do not have a platform to market it, so I am grateful to Michigan Virtual," said Paliwal.
©2023 The Oakland Press, Sterling Heights, Mich. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
