Back to: Building AI Agents Without Coding: A Beginner’s Course
Project: Build a simple AI tutor or study-buddy that can help with educational queries. For instance, an agent that can act as a math homework helper or a language practice partner for a student. We’ll focus on making it safe and useful for learning.
Tools: We can use ChatGPT again, but structure it in a way that it behaves like a tutor. Optionally, a platform like Voiceflow could be used to create a guided Q&A bot (especially if you want a quiz-style tutor). However, even just using ChatGPT with carefully designed prompts and perhaps some content filtering can achieve a lot.
Steps to build an AI tutor:
- Choose a subject and scope: Narrow the tutor’s domain – e.g., high school math tutor focusing on algebra, or English vocabulary quiz partner. A focused scope helps the AI stay accurate. For demonstration, let’s say math tutor.
- Provide the AI with context and role: When using ChatGPT, the first message can set the role. For example: “You are a helpful math tutor for Year 10 students in NSW. You explain solutions step-by-step in simple terms. If a student gets an answer wrong, you encourage them and guide them to the right answer. You never just give the answer away outright unless the student is really stuck.” This kind of system prompt can make ChatGPT behave more like a patient teacher.
- Prepare some example questions: You might “seed” the conversation with a few example Q&As or use a structured approach:
- Example approach: flashcards style. You can tell the AI to only respond with a question, then wait for the student’s attempt, then give feedback. However, in ChatGPT’s standard interface, it doesn’t truly wait for input mid-response. So instead, you as the user would alternate: ask a question as the student, then have ChatGPT answer as the tutor.
- Alternatively, use a conversational design tool (like Voiceflow) where the bot asks a question and expects user input (which could be typed by the student) before revealing an explanation. Voiceflow could implement a quiz: the bot asks “What is 5 + 7?” → user answers → bot checks the answer (Voiceflow can use a simple condition or even call an OpenAI API in the background to verify) → then bot responds correct or gives the right answer with explanation.
- Safety and accuracy measures: It’s crucial for an educational bot to provide correct info. One strategy is to use a reliable knowledge base. While no-code, you might use a service like ChatGPT’s custom knowledge (if available) by providing it with the curriculum info or using prompt references like “According to the NSW math syllabus…”. Since that might be advanced, at minimum test the AI’s answers yourself. For instance, ask it a range of questions (some it might not know, like very tricky ones) and see if it ever responds incorrectly or with too advanced an explanation. If it does, refine the instructions – e.g., “if you don’t know the answer, say you’re not sure, don’t guess” to prevent misinformation.
- Try it out: Assume the role of a student and have a mock dialogue with your tutor bot:
- Student: “I’m having trouble factorizing the equation x^2 – 5x + 6 = 0.”
- Bot (AI agent): “Sure! Let’s work through it. We want two numbers that multiply to 6 and add up to -5 (with a negative sum, both numbers will be negative)…” and so on.
- If the bot gives the full answer too soon, adjust instructions to be more Socratic (asking the student questions).
- If the bot uses terms that might confuse a Year 10 student, instruct it to simplify language.
- Multi-turn guidance: One strength of AI agents is they can remember context in a conversation. So a student could ask follow-ups like “I don’t get why they add up to -5” and the tutor agent can recall the context and clarify. This is something you can’t achieve with a static FAQ, highlighting the benefit of an AI tutor over a simple program.
- Localize the experience: Since the focus is on NSW/Sydney:
- If the subject has local curriculum specifics (e.g., mentioning HSC standards for older students), include that context. The NSW Department of Education emphasizes aligning AI tools with the curriculum, so our tutor should ideally stick to what’s being taught in class.
- Maybe incorporate Australian examples or phrasing. For an English tutor bot, include Australian idioms or literature in examples. For a history tutor, ensure it knows Australian history topics relevant to the student.
- Note: The NSW Department of Education is actively exploring AI tutors like NSWEduChat to ensure equitable, safe AI assistance for all students. While our DIY tutor is a simpler scale, being aware of these initiatives can inspire you to consider issues like equity (does every student have access to the tool?), and safety (preventing misuse or cheating).
By completing this project, you have a prototype educational agent. While it’s not a replacement for teachers, it shows how AI can personalize learning – a student can ask it unlimited questions without fear of embarrassment and get instant help. Always remember to supervise and fact-check AI tutors in real educational settings (for example, a teacher or parent should ensure the AI isn’t giving faulty methods). In Australia, using AI in schools must adhere to ethical guidelines (ensuring accuracy, avoiding bias, and protecting student data)medium.com, which leads us to our next module.