CSU Bakersfield puts student-built AI assistant Rio on display at NextTech Kern
At Wednesday's NextTech Kern conference, CSUB's tech chief said entry-level employers now expect basic AI skills, and a political science professor explained how he keeps students in control.
CSU Bakersfield puts student-built AI assistant Rio on display at NextTech Kern
Key Takeaways
- CSU Bakersfield featured Rio, an AI campus assistant built with help from students, at its NextTech Kern conference on Oct. 28.
- Rio answers campus questions using only information university departments have approved, and it sends users to staff when it doesn't know.
- CSUB chief information officer Chris Diniz said many entry-level employers now expect applicants to understand AI at a basic level.
- CSUB political science professor Michael Ault built a full course that treats AI as "lane assist," with students responsible for checking their information.
"It's not gonna guess."
That's Christian Schmiedel's pitch for Rio, the AI assistant CSU Bakersfield put on display at Wednesday's NextTech Kern conference, where campus leaders argued that kids who leave without hands-on AI experience will start their careers behind. Rio is short for Roadrunner Intelligent Operator. It was built with help from CSUB students (the Roadrunner is the same name the athletics teams play under), and it answers common campus questions using only information that university departments have approved.
What Rio does
Schmiedel is the project's technical implementation fellow. He told KBAK the system is built to avoid making up answers, which is the main thing separating it from the open-ended chatbots most students already carry around on their phones.
"Whatever Rio is telling you is a certified correct answer," he said. "And if it doesn't know the answer, it will direct you to the people who know the answer."
Schmiedel said the project introduced him to AI engineering work and could shape his own career path. He also came away with experience on both the technical and human sides of building an AI system. CSUB leaders say Rio is part of a push to get students working with AI before they're job hunting.
What employers expect
Dr. Chris Diniz was blunter.
"If you don't have that, there's going to be a gap for you because a lot of employers for entry-level jobs are expecting some basic understanding of AI," said Diniz, CSUB's associate vice president and chief information officer.
He didn't name which employers, and neither did the KBAK report.
Where K-12 fits
The university's NextTech Kern site listed high school and community college students, along with K-12 leaders and educators, among the people it wanted in the audience, and it posted a $95 registration fee for the 9-to-5 event. That matters for Kern County districts. A Kern High School District sophomore is a few years from that entry-level hiring pool. The coverage didn't say whether Rio, or anything like it, connects to high school pathways through dual enrollment, articulation agreements or a partnership with Bakersfield College.
But that's the question a high school counselor would ask first.
Hands on the wheel
Faculty are trying to fold AI into coursework without letting it do students' thinking for them. Dr. Michael Ault, who teaches political science, is one.
"I designed an entire class around the idea of using AI as a lane assist as opposed to a Waymo," Ault said.
His approach leans on verification and critical thinking. Students stay responsible for the information they use, and anyone who's graded a stack of eighth-grade research reports knows why that part matters. Ault finished the metaphor himself.
"The idea being that instead of students just simply getting in a car and the car driving itself, they're still with their hands on the wheel in control," he said.
Central Valley AI is produced by the CVAI Education Desk team and developed by Kaweah Tech, a regional firm that builds, deploys, and integrates AI solutions for businesses across California's Central Valley.