Gwangju University Develops AI Academic Support Service "Hi-Lighty"

On the 12th, at the 45th anniversary ceremony, Sangwoo Han, Director of the Information and Computer Center, introduced the main features of Hi Lighty. Photo by Gwangju University

Gwangju University announced on the 23rd that it has launched academic and educational innovation initiatives through the development and deployment of "Hi-Lighty," an AI-powered academic support service based on the university’s operational motto of "entrepreneurship."

Launched on the 12th to coincide with the university’s 45th anniversary ceremony, "Hi-Lighty" provides 24/7 consultation for academic affairs, education, admissions, and studying abroad via the university website, campus portal, admissions, graduate school, international cooperation, and career-related sites, making support available anytime and anywhere.

"Hi-Lighty," which operates as a generative AI consultation service, was developed with the goal of resolving academic and career-related inquiries from current students, reducing the workload of staff handling academic support, and providing high-quality admissions counseling services to prospective Gwangju University students and their parents.

Previously, scenario-based chatbot services adopted by leading domestic universities were limited in effectiveness, as they could only handle predefined Q&A and struggled to provide personalized answers. However, "Hi-Lighty" has the advantage of learning from campus data daily, enabling the AI to understand the intent behind questions and deliver effective responses. Not only university members but also the general public can search for and utilize information about Gwangju University. In addition, multilingual services are available in English, Vietnamese, and Chinese for international students and faculty.

Recognized as the first innovative model in Korea to provide AI services both on and off campus, "Hi-Lighty" was developed in collaboration with Classum, an AI-based education platform specialist led by Chaelin Lee and Yoojin Choi.

By applying Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) technology, the AI searches, verifies, and answers questions in real time before generating a response. If it cannot answer, it responds with "unable to answer" and allows users to contact an administrator. This approach minimizes hallucination, a well-known issue in generative AI services. Furthermore, "Hi-Lighty" is designed to relearn from administrator responses, thereby improving the accuracy and quality of its answers.

Sangwoo Han, Director of the Information and Computer Center, stated, "Gwangju University, as a prestigious private institution representing Gwangju Metropolitan City, which is centered on AI, developed 'Hi-Lighty' to provide an innovative AI academic support service based on entrepreneurship. By using 'Hi-Lighty,' students and staff can experience a useful and convenient academic support service, and external users can access a wide range of information about Gwangju University, including admissions information, and experience the latest AI services."

Meanwhile, Gwangju University plans to continuously upgrade the "Hi-Lighty" service and provide personalized services based on student and staff IDs starting from the second semester of this year.