Nust students launch Namibian chatbot

Jeanette Diergaardt
You can now find YYenichat, an AI chatbot geared toward educators, students, and learners, on Google Playstore.
App creators Vitalis Haupindi and Lotto Nanghunda worked on the app while enrolled full-time at Namibia University of Science and Technology.
The app was released after various studies were done at schools and after funding was secured.
The chatbot serves as a personal tutor for students and learners, and enables users to ask any question about a certain subject. In contrast to other well-known generative AI technologies, YYeniChat allows users to ask follow-up questions to discover the answer on their own without compromising their cognitive ability. The chatbot can assist users with issues pertaining to Afrikaans and was developed with the Namibian setting in mind.
According to the developers, the chatbot is designed to amplify the ability of school teachers with the help of AI. It allows teachers to teach more effectively by simulating a one-to-one teaching environment. The chatbot collects data from the learners as they use the app and gives feedback and recommendation to teachers and parents about the learner's progress.
The first part of the chat amplifies the work of the teachers and the second part involves the AI teaching itself independent of the teacher through the questions and input from users.