By Sue-Ann Wayow

ANANSI, the new Artificial Intelligence (AI) agent is quickly expanding its web across Trinidad and Tobago.

Its performance as at August 18 shows that it had almost 30,000 visits to the site with more than 6,200 information requests since its launch earlier this month.

Additionally, it has almost 800 pushes to live agents and an 85.3 per cent overall satisfaction rating.

This is according to information released by Anansi’s creator, iGovTT.

AZP News spoke in detail recently with iGovTT Chief Executive Officer Dr. Inshan Meahjohn and Team Lead Corporate Communications and Marketing – Nicole Greene regarding Anansi’s web, a project iGovTT is very proud of as it is a key monumental project created by public servants saving time.

And at no additional cost to tax payers.

Dr. Meahjohn refers to the public as the “aunties, uncles and cousins” of Anansi who will be helping to further enhance Anansi’s web capabilities.

At a post-Cabinet media briefing on August 7, Minister of Public Administration and Artificial Intelligence Dominic Smith hailed Anansi as an initiative that the ministry was quite proud of given the short space of time, adding it will be used as a cornerstone for other technological platforms.

The idea which was birthed just over 100 days ago was exciting, validating, surpassed expectations and producing real value, tested by over 500 citizens and worked on 24/7 by at least 10 persons at any one time, Dr Meahjohn said.

Before Anansi was finalised, it underwent test after test, feedback after feedback.

No, the change in government did not constitute as to why Anansi was created as it was on the table before.

“We have cycles of new products that are coming up all the time. This was the AI cycle that we were involved in,” Dr Meahjohn said.

Anansi’s main goal is to reduce time for citizens trying to acquire government information without the hassle and run around many may be accustomed to.

A recent national survey highlighted the public’s core frustrations, with 45 per cent of citizens finding government websites confusing to navigate and 30 per cent citing long wait times for answers.

Dr Meahjohn said, “Anansi represents a fundamental shift in the citizen-state relationship. For years, customer inquiries meant fairly static websites and telephone calls to try to find the right place to ask your question or get assistance. Anansi is the first step towards a conversational, intelligent, and integrated public service. It breaks down the silos between ministries and is the foundation for a future where government services are not only online, but are truly at the service of the public – proactive, intuitive, and accessible to all.”

Anansi’s most unique feature is that it is a mix of both AI and HI (Human Intelligence).

This is in addition to fusing technology with culture as Anansi is a famed spider from West Africa in local folktales, and is cunning and smart and the keeper of stories.  The name and logo has been tested by citizens with even positive feedback from Jamaica who applauded the inclusion of Caribbean culture with modern technology.

Dr Meahjohn said, “We see it as the spider who can go through the web (internet) and pull for you what you need.”

Though Anansi the character also tricked others, he said all focus was on Anansi’s positive attributes.

“When you read the story, Anansi always comes up with the solution. And we looked at that. What does the citizens want- a solution.”

For those who may question what happened to the already existing ttGovChat, Dr Meahjohn explained it was a foundational first step in the journey to provide 24/7 digital access to public information, and it served citizens well.

However, soon, the ttGovChat will be completely evolved into Anansi and will be upgraded across all ministries’ sites as while it was a fantastic step, it had its limitations, he said.

“While ttGovChat was based on a specific set of pre-determined questions and answers, Anansi is a significant advancement. It understands natural language, allowing you to ask questions in your own words. Most importantly, where the old system was siloed on individual websites, Anansi has a unified knowledge base, giving you access to information from across 32 government agencies in one conversation. It represents the next, more intelligent step in making government services truly accessible,” Dr Meahjohn told AZP News.

He also said the two cannot be compared as Anansi was a brand-new initiative.

Greene added that since the launch of the project, 90 per cent of enquires could have been answered by Anansi and only 10 per cent needed to be pushed forward to live agents who would deal with more nuance questions.

“We are creating an opportunity for the government to be more responsive and listening to the citizens and providing them with what they are asking for,” she said.

Some common enquires Greene said concerned taxes, registrations, Ministry of Health related issues, legal matters, passport enquiries and drivers’ licences which were also expected.

Dr Meahjohn acknowledged that no software system created was perfect from its first day and there were genuine concerns that all of the data within Anansi was not 100 per cent correct.

He said, “Data accuracy is our absolute top priority. Anansi’s knowledge is sourced from FAQs submitted by ministries, departments and agencies, as well as official public websites and the reality of a system this vast is that information can become outdated at the source.

Dr Meahjohn assured, “We’re aware of this, and we’re actively working on improving data quality. We realised fairly early on, that our goal could not be to launch a system that was perfect from day one… that would be impossible. Our goal was to launch a system that is built to get better every single day.”

He added, “Continually we are working with the ministries and we have some other initiatives that we are putting in place to improve that.”

Ministries and agencies were also on board with having their information updated in a timely manner and Anansi helps with speed and quality of information being provided to users.

“We know it is 1.0 and it has to be improved and it has been improving.”

Improvements will include the understanding of the local language as well.

Greene added, “If we waited for perfection, we will never get there.”

Hence the reason why the AI and HI model was so important. The TTConnect agents are directly under iGovTT and consists about 10 agents at the moment which could change.

Dr Meahjohn said, “This process doesn’t just resolve citizens queries, it flags the data for verification by our human team, who then work with the source ministry to make a correction. Every interaction makes the system stronger and we are committed to this transparent process of continuous improvement with the public as our most important partner.”

When asked about human job replacement, he responded, “We don’t see AI as something to replace individuals or jobs. We see AI as something to enhance.”

What this does is it allows the rudimentary fundamental questions to be handled so experienced public servants can deal with more complicated issues.

Greene said, “We are not just raising the number of queries we can handle, we are raising the quality of response that you’re getting”

Human intelligence will always be needed they both agreed.

Currently, the public can interact with Anansi at https://www.ttconnect.gov.tt/anansi/

An email address is required to interact with Anansi.

Dr Meahjohn explained the email address was to interact with a live agent if need be and not to collect citizen’s information, assuring “there is nothing in there that is collecting citizen data at all.”

“Because you have the AI/HI version, when the live agent has to contact you back, let’s say for example the live drops or it has to be turned into a ticket, then the agent would be able to contact you.”

Agents work from Monday to Friday.

“It is very secure. It conforms to all the encryption standards,” he promised.

Apart from Anansi, iGovTT is also managing all government online platforms.

A demo video is available for persons wanting to use Anansi or persons can walk into a TTConnect centre to obtain more information.

IGovTT is also working on other projects which the public will be aware of at a later date.

And Dr Meahjohn said the use of AI should be considered for corporations.

“I would always encourage ethical, proper, well researched solutions that incorporate AI into your business and if you have a question, iGovTT can help,” he said.

Dr Meahjohn ended his interview with AZP News reiterating, “I am proud of my public servants. I am proud of my iGovTT and TTConnect team because they have a passion for service and delivery and we were able to deliver yet another fantastic solution that help citizens with their time and reduce frustrations.”

Greene agreed.

So go ahead. Try Anansi- “Your smart, trusted, national digital assistant for official information on government services.”