SOFIA: AI for Early Socio-Emotional Risk Detection

AI-powered conversational agent using Google Gemini for early detection of socio-emotional risk in students, providing personalized support, institutional guidance, and timely intervention

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CONALEP Socioemocional Gemini

Inspiration

Socio-emotional well-being is one of the biggest challenges in upper-secondary education. Many students experience anxiety, stress, loneliness, academic pressure, or emotional crises without seeking professional help due to stigma, fear, or limited access to support services.

As part of my doctoral research in Educational Innovation, I wanted to create a practical solution that combines Artificial Intelligence with educational guidance. The goal was not to replace psychologists or counselors, but to provide an accessible first point of contact capable of identifying early warning signs and encouraging students to seek timely institutional support.

What it does

CONALEP Socioemocional Gemini is an AI-powered conversational agent designed for students in upper-secondary education.

The system:

  • Provides a safe and confidential space for conversation.
  • Detects early socio-emotional risk through natural language interactions.
  • Generates empathetic and personalized responses using Google Gemini.
  • Encourages healthy coping strategies.
  • Connects students with institutional support resources.
  • Provides quick access to emergency resources such as the school counselor, emergency services (911), and Mexico's Línea de la Vida.

Additionally, every interaction can be securely recorded for authorized educational follow-up while respecting institutional privacy policies.

How we built it

The application was developed using:

  • Google Gemini API
  • Python
  • Gradio
  • Hugging Face Spaces
  • Google Sheets API
  • HTML/CSS

The conversational interface was designed specifically for educational environments, focusing on empathy, accessibility, and ease of use.

Challenges we ran into

One of the biggest challenges was balancing accurate socio-emotional guidance with responsible AI behavior.

The system needed to provide supportive conversations while avoiding medical diagnosis or replacing mental health professionals. Another challenge was creating an interface simple enough for students while integrating institutional referral resources.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We successfully developed a working educational AI application capable of:

  • Detecting possible socio-emotional risk.
  • Generating contextual and empathetic conversations.
  • Integrating Google Gemini into a real educational scenario.
  • Registering interactions securely.
  • Providing immediate access to institutional support resources.

The project is already deployed and functional using Hugging Face.

What we learned

This project demonstrated that Generative AI can become an important ally in education when designed responsibly.

Rather than replacing professionals, AI can help identify students who may benefit from timely human intervention.

What's next for CONALEP Socioemocional Gemini

Future development includes:

  • Voice conversations.
  • Multilingual support.
  • Predictive analytics for institutional prevention.
  • Dashboard for counselors.
  • Mobile application.
  • Integration with additional educational platforms.
  • Institutional deployment across multiple CONALEP campuses.

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