FyveBot

More information exists in the world today than ever before. Intelligent, interesting and cultured individuals dot the globe who have failed and learned countless times and have advice for those following in their paths. Instead of sifting through hundreds of resources before finding what they found, let FyveBot connect you with what they used to succeed. FyveBot aims to empower people through knowledge by encouraging continued learning. We live in a time where the vast majority of humanity's knowledge can be found online. FyveBot presents users with the ability to make effective use of their downtime or simply learn new concepts they are interested in. The project aims to make short periods of time otherwise unused more efficient and productive, such as while waiting in line at the DMV. Our goal is to present endorsed from a diverse user base and empower people by providing them with concise summaries of their topics of interest. The user will tell FyveBot what they are interested in and it will scrape the web for the most relevant articles or videos available, combining natural language processing tools and a smart summarizer to shorten the content into a five minute read. FyveBot will start learning what kind of subjects the user enjoys and then introduce related subjects that may be of interest to them in an attempt to stimulate learning and encourage the user to learn new concepts everyday. Information integrity and credibility is essential to build a relationship of trust with the user. FyveBot will prompt the user for feedback on the sources provided and will be able to better recognize sources that provide quality information by leveraging machine learning models. Furthermore, it will help identify sources that may provide opposing points of view on a topic in order to broaden the user’s horizons. Information variety is key; learning about opposing points of view and the reasoning behind them is essential to develop well-rounded perspectives. FyveBot parses and displays summaries created from a variety of sources to ensure that users are exposed to different points of view on a single topic. As a result, users will be better able to understand the motivations behind how information is presented and develop a more comprehensive worldview, while preventing the creation of “echo chambers” where users are only exposed to information that ratifies their views and beliefs. FyveBot does not aim to provide an exhaustive amount of information nor does it aim to give users an in-depth understanding of any topic. Its goal is not to replace traditional search engines such as Bing or Google, but rather to complement them by peaking users’ interest in a subject area with concise displays of information with which the user can further research via a search engine, if desired.

The FyveBot team is made up of a group of Computer Science and Computer Engineering undergraduates from Georgia Tech. Our team proudly combines different levels of experience, from sophomores to seniors with diverse backgrounds ranging from cybersecurity to user experience, research and design. Our team decided to attend HackIllinois 2018 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on a whim; none of us had ever participated in a hackathon and we were all eager to gain that experience. Our team members are:%0A Sam Bretz - Sarasota, Florida Senior Computer Science Undergraduate Sam has experience ranging from web development to cloud computing, but he specializes in and has a passion for artificial intelligence and machine learning. He has gained his experience from three separate internships during his time as an undergraduate. Sam leads the development of FyveBot’s data summarizer as well as algorithmic design and implementation. Nyle Malik - Ottawa, Canada Sophomore Computer Engineering Undergraduate Nyle has experience in application and web design. He is working on strengthening the backend and exploring the implementation of new feedback algorithms. Through working at National Grid and Vodafone Group, Nyle developed a strong understanding of user experience. He hopes to further gain insight into machine learning through FyveBot. John Murphy - Leesburg, GA Junior Computer Science Undergraduate Murphy has experience with automated testing, security-enhanced operating systems, and other forms of cybersecurity from working on multiple government projects with the Georgia Tech Research Institute. He is interested in AI and and hopes to learn everything he can from this experience. Mitch Myers - Peachtree City, GA Senior Computer Science Undergraduate Mitch has previously interned at IBM and Clutch Technologies where he gained experience as a full stack developer and an end-to-end quality assurance engineer; he is also passionate about artificial intelligence and machine learning. He leads the development and implementation of the backend architecture and data-gathering algorithms for FyveBot. Gerardo Prada - San Jose, Costa Rica Junior Computer Science Undergraduate Gerardo has experience with all stages of webapp development: from project planning to deployment. He has worked with multiple companies throughout his time at Georgia Tech and is able to provide the team with an in-depth understanding of web frameworks. He leads the bot implementation and is in charge of server management and deployment. Eduardo Vargas - San Jose, Costa Rica Senior Computer Science Undergraduate Eduardo has worked with digital platforms, marketing and user experience with The Coca-Cola Company since the beginning of his sophomore year; he specializes in artificial intelligence but his main passion is to make software as intuitive and enjoyable as possible. Eduardo currently leads the frontend design of FyveBot and serves as the team’s spokesperson. As a team, we are eager to focus on FyveBot’s development as it is a unique learning opportunity that complements our coursework and work experiences. Collectively our passion is to create a unique product that empowers users to do more by learning. At FyveBot, we believe a passion for learning and diversity of perspective is what drives innovation and sparks great ideas. We hope to continue to develop our platform to put the power of learning in the hands of users, and to enable them to broaden their horizons one topic at a time.