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How Georgia Institute of Technology Uses “Jill Watson” AI Teaching Assistant to Scale Personalized Learning

By: GoBeyond Team
July 27, 2025
3 min read
Jill Watson AI teaching assistant interface in online forums

Quick Overview

Georgia Tech developed “Jill Watson,” an AI-powered teaching assistant built initially on IBM Watson, to automatically answer frequently asked questions in online course forums for large Computer Science classes. The AI assistant was trained on over 40,000 forum posts to provide accurate, timely responses, reducing human TA workload.

Georgia Institute of Technology
Georgia Institute of Technology
Company Size
~30,000 students
Revenue Range
Public university
Primary Challenge
Providing timely, consistent student support in large online courses with limited TA resources
Key Metrics

- Reduced response time for student queries
- Handled majority of routine questions
- Eased workload for human TAs
- Seamless integration into course forums

The Problem

Large class sizes and high volume of repetitive student questions overwhelmed teaching staff, limiting personalized support.

The Solution

Developed multiple generations of Jill Watson using IBM Watson APIs and later proprietary semantic processing and machine learning to autonomously answer student questions and welcome new students.

Results

- Significant reduction in TA workload
- Improved student support and engagement
- Students unaware AI was assisting
- Enabled TAs to focus on complex queries and personalized feedback

“Jill Watson has allowed us to scale personalized learning without compromising quality.”

Ashok Goel, Professor, Georgia Tech

Details

Industry
Education & EdTech
Departments
Education & Learning
Customer Support & Service
Use Cases
Knowledge Base Creation
Course Creation
Tags
NLP
Time-Saving
Scalability
Educators
AI Tools Used
IBM Watson
Sources
https://pe.gatech.edu/blog/meet-jill-watson-georgia-techs-first-ai-teaching-assistanthttps://digitaldefynd.com/IQ/ai-in-schools-case-studies/https://digitaldefynd.com/IQ/ai-in-schools-case-studies/https://axonpark.com/how-effective-is-ai-in-education-10-case-studies-and-examples/https://dilab.gatech.edu/test/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/GoelPolepeddi-DedeRichardsSaxberg-JillWatson-2018.pdf

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