In early 2023, Zayed University Library started a project to build a custom chatbot using Python and the OpenAI API. The chatbot, named Aisha (meaning “alive” or “she who lives” in Arabic), was designed to provide quick and efficient reference and support services to students and faculty outside the library's regular operating hours. The project represents the first fully reported attempt to explore the potential of a ChatGPT-based bot in academic libraries.

Aisha uses the OpenAI API in combination with locally gathered data from LibGuides, LibAnswers, and the ZU Library website. Aisha has great potential to speed up reference services and make them more accessible, providing library users with round-the-clock assistance. Aisha can provide very accurate and human-like responses, keep up the conversation by asking follow-up questions and respond in different languages based on English source data.

In the initial development phase, the focus was on data gathering and essential testing, equipping Aisha with features like a conversational memory and a Streamlit-based interface. In April 2023, we started using Chroma (vector database) and LangChain (LLM application framework). In May 2023, voice capabilities (speech recognition and text-to-speech) were added. By the end of 2023, we had developed and integrated several advanced features, including link checking and integrations with various tools and data sources such as Google search, Wikipedia, the ZU Library catalog, and the ZU Scholars institutional repository. Additionally, Aisha's "thought process" is now displayed to users, enhancing transparency and contributing to information literacy by helping users understand how information is processed and decisions are made. Recently, we have further expanded Aisha's capabilities with the introduction of image analysis and generation tools using OpenAI's GPT-4 Vision and DALL-E.

Despite Aisha's advanced features, there are some limitations such as token limitations, memory limitations and occasional hallucinations. We continue to develop Aisha further, and our future plans include setting up a private server and conducting comprehensive testing.

Read more about Aisha:

Lappalainen, Y., & Narayanan, N. (2024, September). Embracing Conversational AI Agents: The Agentic Future of Libraries. Computers in Libraries. https://www.infotoday.com/cilmag/sep24/Lappalainen-Narayanan--Embracing-Conversational-AI-Agents-The-Agentic-Future-of-Libraries.shtml.

Lappalainen, Y., & Narayanan, N. (2023). Aisha: A Custom AI Library Chatbot Using the ChatGPT API. Journal of Web Librarianship, 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/19322909.2023.2221477 or https://zuscholars.zu.ac.ae/works/5874.

Chat with Aisha

Please note: Aisha is still in development and testing phase. Please report any issues to us so we can improve Aisha's performance.