The newest member of the State University of Campinas (Unicamp) SPE Student Chapter in Brasil, Catarina, is a chatbot based on artificial intelligence. The main responsibility of the virtual assistant is to provide support in different tasks such as helping members in topics related to chapter information and activities, and in making SPE resources easily available. The recently launched virtual tool can respond in English and Portuguese, covering different membership aspects like benefits, contact information, and PetroWiki, among others.
Catarina is still in her training period and soon will be able to incorporate additional tasks such as delivering certificates to the chapter members, suggesting technical books and articles, supporting the PetroBowl team with training, and delivering information in a third language (Spanish). She is currently available 24/7 on the Unicamp Student Chapter website or Telegram; and will be launched on WhatsApp in the near future.
Fun and Interesting Facts About Catarina:
- She got her name from a local Brazilian word that is commonly used to refer to the travelling block that moves up and down in the derrick. Similar to this equipment, Catarina is responsible for delivering information from the chapter to its members.
- Catarina was conceived as part of an internal challenge from the 2020 Unicamp chapter president, Fernanda Gois, to the treasurer, André Brasil, who was able to train Catarina in less than 2 months at zero cost.
- Catrina’s avatar was created and inspired by Miriã Theodoro (2020 public relations director at the chapter), and it represents a smart and sophisticated woman.
- The chatbot is learning Spanish with Ariel Villarroel, who was a proactive and important member of the chapter during 2020.
- Catarina was created as an effort to optimize the resources of the chapter.