Key Features of Elenai
The goals of accessibility and appropriate usage
Simple example of the detection's results
The goals of accessibility and appropriate usage
Visual depiction of the averaging system

Elenai: Bridging AI and Education

An Unhealthy Restriction: The Current Situation

The invention and proliferation of the calculator brought an interesting problem to scientists and educators alike–one that seems silly in hindsight. While the calculator enabled students and researchers to quickly solve tedious problems, they threatened a relationship of heavy reliance that could worsen a student’s intellectual ability. Today, calculators remain a fundamental tool as they have been valued as a time-saver, not a crutch. Schools alike were able to achieve a balance of rigor by shifting from busy work to complex and conceptual problems, a transformation that enhanced efficiency in teaching.

We are seeing a similar dilemma with the growing accessibility and accuracy of AI, artificial intelligence. This revolutionary technology is similar in nature in that it can optimize student’s learning journeys, except now it can be applied to fields outside of objective math and science. Despite its capabilities, AI is feared in teaching because it can create an unhealthy dependency between its omniscience and a student who is trying to cut corners.

This has resulted in instructors outlawing the use of AI in their assignments, which conversely further encourages students to cut across this premature barrier and exploit the seductive tool.

Acceptance of Available Tools: The Growth Forward

When we noticed the gravity of this absence, we decided to make a system that allows students to use this new heuristic tool with guardrails in place to avoid blatant cheating–it’s a way to police and advance student’s education without banning this new helpful technology.

We decided to make a system that allows students to use this new tool with guardrails in place to avoid outright cheating–it’s a way to police students without banning new technology.

The key advantage of Elenai is that, as a Chrome extension, it integrates with Google–one of today’s most popular educational platforms. This allows a seamless classroom experience that covers up the delicate framework with visual UIUX.

One of the first developing hurdles we ran into was the finicky temperament of APIs. As we added layers to the project, the APIs became increasingly more difficult to handle because of the outdated and obscure documentation. Through intense trial and error we were able to resolve our problems.

Another focus while designing this application was the balance between concise design and complexity in the UIUX, and following this rule we ended up with a product that emphasizes both of these key qualities.

The framework is a balance of AI and non-AI algorithms to find an accurate middleground between strict evaluation and lenient recognition. Both sub-programs use a data-engineering approach concerning document history, text patterns, and language analysis to ultimately calculate the percentage of AI’s involvement in the work.

Because of the pros and cons of each approach, instead of strictly employing one method, we’ve melded an amalgamation of those approaches with other enhancements to create a balanced assessment of data.

This percentage is necessary as downstream it is used by teachers to set limits on the involvement of outside intelligence. Educators will be able to set calculator-style thresholds–such as 20% for creative writing or 30% for research–to create simple guidelines of appropriate AI usage and further returns personal feedback to help understand the guidelines.

We are excited to announce that our planning, creation, testing, and implementation of progressive and contemporary technologies has allowed us to create a program that safely brings AI to learning environments, and we look forward to continue out journey to create the best education possible.

Elenai is a chrome extension that gives teachers a degree of control over AI in learning environments in order to bring its beneficial qualities into the classroom.
It has a multi-revisional process fine-tuned for reliability
The simple and visually interactive UI allows easy implementation into common curriculums and transparency in its efforts.
This approach embraces AI as a tool, not a crutch, and values authenticity over perfection. We preach accessibility as well as responsibility of AI in our journey to bring this technology to common education.
Easy integration with the dominant digital environments.