To give college students realistic practice for their first professional job interviews, Cal State Fullerton mathematics and sociology faculty are using AI to develop a mock interview bot.
The “G𝜋T: Generative Practice Interview Trainer” closes opportunity gaps by providing students with a content-based, authentic interview experience, said project director Alison Marzocchi, professor of mathematics.
“We saw an opportunity to leverage an AI tool that provides students with interview practice so they can enter the job market better prepared for the job application and interview process,” Marzocchi said. “It’s simple to use — even for someone new to AI.”
The mock interview bot, funded by a $150,000 grant from the California Education Learning Lab, will eventually be disseminated for free next summer across the California State University and other college campuses.
Before broadly sharing the tool, nine CSUF faculty members and 90 students, representing all eight colleges and Pollak Library, will pilot two iterations of the AI bot this academic year to assess it for any ethical issues.
“We want to make sure this transformative tool is accessible to everyone and addresses ethics and privacy concerns,” Marzocchi said.
For instance, the bot will be tested to ensure students are not treated differently based on perceived gender, a person’s native language or other identity characteristics.
Mathematics major Giselle Cortez-Tlaxcuapan is among students working on the project. She is tackling identifying and analyzing potential biases in the AI tool.
“The goal is to develop a tool that truly benefits students and minimizes potential downsides,” Cortez-Tlaxcuapan said.
What’s unique about the project is that the artificial intelligence-powered bot can be customized by instructors and students to simultaneously meet the goals of each.
Students can tailor the bot to simulate interviews to fit specific career paths or job positions. In return, the AI bot gives users real-time and summary feedback, helping them build confidence and skills for interviews with prospective employers.
Instructors from any discipline can customize the bot to draw upon course content for career-relevant interview questions.
For example, it could be a single chapter from an open-source textbook to help students prepare for an exam, PowerPoint slides or an entire set of lecture notes to use as a capstone assignment.
“This helps students build their conceptual understanding of coursework and practice discipline-specific communication skills,” Marzocchi said.
Matheus Guerrero, Sunny Le and Francisco Zepeda, all mathematics faculty, and sociology faculty member Edward Watson are also involved in the project. The faculty team is creating support materials for students and instructors.
Materials include a student guidebook to explain how to participate in an interview, a faculty guidebook on customizing the bot for their class, and a personalized AI prompt so instructors can adapt the bot to meet their course needs.
Cortez-Tlaxcuapan said by participating in the project, she is honing her research skills while exploring her interest in AI development. After she graduates, the third-year student plans to use the AI tool to help launch a career in software or video game development.
“Coming from an underrepresented community and a first-generation college student, tools like this help level the playing field. It’s exciting to contribute to something that could help students like me succeed,” she said.
“What’s most rewarding is knowing this AI tool could help many students land their dream jobs.”