This past spring and summer seven teams of UMass sophomores and juniors participated in the AI for the Commonwealth Internship program that is collaboratively run by the UMass Public Interest Technology Initiative and the Center for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence at the Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences along with the Executive Office of Technology Services and Security (EOTSS) for the Commonwealth.
This program offers a rare opportunity for students to collaborate with state agencies and UMass mentors, applying cutting-edge AI to real-world challenges that impact communities across Massachusetts. The students worked 10 hours a week during the spring semester and 32 hours a week during the summer with their agency clients on experiential AI projects for social good. This September they will be presenting their work to Governor Maura Healey and other Commonwealth stakeholders in the State House. (Read more about the Healey-Driscoll administration partnership with UMass, here.)
Learn about the AI for the Commonwealth Interns and their projects below.
Executive Office of Technology Services and Security (EOTSS) Human Resources Team led by Bhavya Agarwal and Dev Mehta
This AI for the Commonwealth (AI4CW) internship team is collaborated with EOTSS Human Resources to develop an AI-powered centralized knowledge base for Commonwealth employees.
Locating relevant HR information can be time-consuming for employees, which can overload HR departments and create unnecessary delays in access and support. To address this, the team designed an AI system that enables employees to quickly locate the HR answers they need.
Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) Team led by Mehek Shah and Brandon Alexander
To reduce review time and create a smoother RFI review process for MassDOT, this AI for the Commonwealth (AI4CW) team built a three-part chatbot system that handles Requests for Information (RFIs) summarization, vendor submission analysis, and contextual integration. This system will help support more efficient decision-making and solve delays in reviewing RFIs caused by the manual nature of cross-referencing documents and submissions.
Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Team led by Rudraksh Chaudhry and Anshuman Agarwal
This AI for the Commonwealth (AI4CW) Internship team built a chatbot that brings all of EEA’s permit data into one easy-to-use interface. This centralized tool can help users more easily locate and apply for the correct permits, allowing the government process to become more accessible, efficient, and transparent.
Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) Team led by Tanush Savadi and Dhriti Reddy Madireddy
This AI for the Commonwealth (AI4CW) team built an AI chatbot that provides real-time training support and guidance to new call center staff at the Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA). The DUA experiences extreme surges in call volume, overwhelming departmental staff and leaving both employees and claimants in difficult positions. By supporting onboarding and day-to-day learning with intelligent AI tools, the DUA can strengthen its frontline response and better meet the growing demand for services.
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) Team led by Minh Le and Kavya Saluja
This AI for the Commonwealth (AI4CW) team created a tool that helps caseworkers at the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) process and prioritize IDEA complaints more efficiently. DESE is overwhelmed by the volume of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) cases, making it challenging to meet the federally mandated deadlines. By using AI to organize and analyze case information, this tool aims to speed up decision timelines and ensure students receive timely support.
Unity Research Computing Platform Team led by Haluk Yuzukirmizi and Riddhimaan Senapati
The Unity Research Computing Platform is a powerful research computing system, but like many advanced systems, it can present a learning curve for unfamiliar users. This AI4UMass team created an AI-powered Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) chatbot trained on Unity’s documentation to explore how AI can enhance the user support experience.
Culinary Career Ladder Program Team led by Adriana Caraeni and Mehak Bhola
The Culinary Career Ladder Program at UMass Amherst is a workforce education program that assists employees in learning English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) in the first stages of their culinary career in Massachusetts.
To enhance and automate the process of transcribing instructional videos in English and translating those transcripts into other target languages, this AI for UMass (AI4UMass) team developed a Translation Management System that provides users with high-accuracy, time-stamped closed captions to increase accessibility for non-English speakers, and enhance learner engagement.
