After thousands of frantic emails questioning what time classes start, what new announcements are being made, and what the latest sports updates are — the Technology Department has delivered a smart solution: Riordan’s first AI chatbot.
The idea started in the summer, when Information Technology Manager Tre’Jon Bolden ’12 had the idea of creating this tool for the Riordan community while walking through a college campus, wondering how convenient it would be to have all of the school’s information in one place.
Bolden described the process of creating the chatbot: “A ton of late nights teaching myself the latest AI frameworks, built strict safety guardrails aligned with our Marianist values, and deployed it in a cost effective way.”
After the first version’s soft launch through the WiFi login, Bolden and John Wu, Director of Technology, received much appreciated feedback from students, faculty, and staff using the tool.
“We also learned a lot from what type of questions people tend to ask or want to know about. One thing that was quite popular is the weather for the day, which is something we implemented in,” Wu stated.
When working on the second version of the chatbot, Bolden made sure to take note of improvements, implement new capabilities, polish its look and speed, and make these features a reality.
Bolden described one of many new capabilities incorporated in the second version of the chatbot, saying, “It now includes a live conversational agent with a realistic speaking avatar that is trained across all departments.”
Brisia Castillo ’26 is one of many students who has interacted with the tool’s features, such as looking up the weather to know whether it’ll be rainy or not.
“I believe that it is helpful because you can ask for the schedule, weather, lunch, and it’s also a direct launch to Schoology and PowerSchool,” Castillo expressed.
Since its creation and consistent updates, Wu described the chatbot as “almost like a tour guide of the school and its resources.”
Anybody can access this AI chatbot either by successfully logging into ARHS WiFi using their school account, or going to ai.riordanhs.org.
“As a former Riordan student myself, I know how valuable it would have been to have instant access to every piece of school information in one place,” Bolden stated.
He added, “Now that experience is finally possible, and we are only getting started.”
