Conversational machineschatbots in engineering education

Resumen

The current evolution of rule-based conversational systems to intelligent conversational machines or chatbots based on Natural Language Processing (NLP) has opened these systems to automate interactions between customers, companies, and/or institutions. Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions are increasingly present in our society, and some examples are virtual assistants such as "SIRI," "CORTANA," and "ALEXA" that can be classified as rational agents. In the industrial field, AI is considered one of the driving technologies of the fourth industrial revolution, where the use of collaborative robots and machine learning tools is increasingly widespread. Chatbots can provide technical advice, answer questions, execute actions, and collect data, and therefore, they can be valuable aids in higher education. However, most of the previous educational experiences with chatbots are focused on individual cases in which tailor-made solutions are applied. Besides, these studies do not consider issues such as complexity, the necessary preparation time, and the time freed up for teachers and students. Through a bibliography and scientometric analysis, this study identifies those applications, experiences, and methodologies based on chatbots, which are more suitable for engineering education.