A Ventura County university has come up with a unique way to keep its new students in the loop about commonly asked questions.
Cal State Channel Islands has a chatbot, which allows you to text it your questions and get answers. It’s called Ekhobot, and it can answer question like “When is the last day of class for the semester?” and “Is the library open?”
Tara Hughes is with Cal State Channel Islands. She says it was launched in 2019 to help freshmen get basic question about school answered.
But during the pandemic, they’ve added messages. For instance, if you text Ekhobot that you are depressed, it gives you information on a 24 hour counseling line.
It also tells jokes...though the quality of the jokes may leave something to be desired.