University uses AI to fight truancy

From monitoring cameras to fingerprint attendance systems, universities and colleges continue to adapt in their battle to tackle students' truancy.

A university in Zhejiang province is the latest to try to improve attendance rates using technology.

"You are absent from class today."

Truants at Hangzhou Dianzi University now receive voice calls with the above message.

The caller is not a human however, but an AI-powered app.

Students' truancy will also be sent to their instructor and put on record the moment the call is made.

Developed by Hangzhou Dianzi University, the AI system can help teachers call the class roll and make calls to urge truant students to attend class.

It can ask students for reasons for their absence and apply punishments where appropriate.

The app has proved effective, with attendance rates higher than before.

"We don't dare skip classes anymore," one of the students at the university said.

Teachers can open the app, which sends randomly generated codes to students, at any time in class.

Students then need to input a verification code to check in on the app, according to Hu Haibin, an official at the university's students' affairs office.

"This process takes 36 seconds at most, and the teacher can set shorter time limits manually," Hu said.

When a student does not complete the check-in within the set time limit, the app will automatically call the student.

The phone call will be simultaneously converted to text and sent to the student's instructor with information on the student's truancy.

"Even if students try to escape the call by changing their phone number, their absence will still be kept on record," said Hu.

The system has grabbed netizens' attention because of its AI-powered calls, but according to Hu, it is just a data collector.

Based on this data instructors can analyze why students are unwilling to attend class, and then tackle accordingly the causes of truancy.

"This is the most important reason for us to develop and use the AI system," said Hu.