Immigration-focused AI chatbot wins $2,500 from Temple University to go from idea to action

A Philly student with a plan for an AI chatbot that answers questions about the legal process of immigration is getting a funding boost from Temple University.

Students, alumni and staff presented solutions to challenges like immigration, education and generational loneliness at the eighth annual Changemaker Challenge last week. The Fox School of Business Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute hosts the pitch competition to get people thinking about social impact ideas and ventures. 

The goal is to show that anyone can come up with innovations and pursue entrepreneurship, Neil Johnston, director of accelerator programs, told Technical.ly. 

“When people see pitch competition or business plan competition, they think they have to be a business school student or have this fully fleshed out idea,” he said. “But this really is to show what are some innovative and entrepreneurial ways to think about solving social issues.”

This year’s grand prize winner was Victor Diaz, a student in the College of Engineering, for his idea LegalAI. After winning first prize in the upper track in addition to the grand prize, he walked away with $2,500 to put towards developing his idea. 

LegalAI, while not in the works yet, could become a simpler way to get answers to complex legal queries about immigration, he said. The tool would also allow users to track their immigration process and foster community among users. 

The idea was inspired by his own family’s experience navigating legal immigration processes, he said. 

“My aunt, she had a question about this process. But if you have a question, it’s very expensive to go to a lawyer,” he said. “So I asked ChatGPT.” 

Prize winners get thousands to turn ideas into reality

The competition asks for submissions from students, alumni, faculty and staff across all schools and disciplines and narrows them down to eight finalists, who go on to pitch their ideas to a panel of judges. 

The finalists tend to be submissions with more fleshed-out ideas, Johnston said. Most participants have done extensive research about their idea and learned about where the gaps in the market are and who the competition is, for example. 

“They may not have a five or 10-year business plan,” Johnston said. “But they are able to share their passion and their expertise in this area that they’ve done some research on.” 

Diaz had been thinking about his idea for a few months before fine-tuning it for the pitch competition, he said. He plans to continue working on his idea, with some changes based on the judges’ feedback. For example, one judge suggested making his own GPT and testing out the knowledge base required for a tool like this. 

While Diaz won the grand prize after topping the upper track for grad students, alumni and staff, there are other winners, too.

The competition also gives out other awards on an undergrad track. Each track has a first place prize, $1,000, and a second place prize, $500. There is also a people’s choice award and global innovation award, each winner receives $500. 

The other winners included:

• Rashmi Thapa won first place undergraduate track for her idea EmpowerED, a personalized education consulting platform for international students. 
• Causha Spellman-Timmons won second place on the upper track and the Global Innovation Award for SENIOR!. The idea would bring sex education programming to seniors. 
• Vozzy World, an AI-based online game that offers educational programming developed by Raphael Cohen-Shippee, won second place on the undergraduate track. 
• The People’s Choice Award went to Robert Spero for his idea Cafe Spero, a workshop cafe with programming to address loneliness amongst elderly people. 

Social entrepreneurship for all — not just the business majors

The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute spent time spreading the word about the competition outside of the business school, enlisting a steering committee of staff from across the university to encourage people to apply, Johnston said. 

The challenge fits into the university’s wider mission to encourage social impact programming but also shows that anyone can contribute to innovation and entrepreneurship, not just people in the business realm, Johnston said. 

The overall goal is to show that social entrepreneurship can look a lot of different ways. It can be a full-time business, a side project or a nonprofit too, he said. 

“The core tenets of innovation and entrepreneurship, ” Johnston said, “can really do social good in the world.”

This story, and all of Technical.ly's immigration reporting, is made possible by the WES Mariam Assefa Fund.

The WES Mariam Assefa Fund supports catalytic efforts to create more inclusive economies for immigrants and refugees in the US and Canada. It works closely with organizations and leaders focused on ensuring more equitable access to opportunity and wealth.