AI Platform Earns VA Approval to Support Veterans – USC Viterbi School of Engineering

AI Platform Earns VA Approval to Support Veterans  USC Viterbi School of Engineering

Inspired by decades of virtual-human research at USC's Institute for Creative Technologies, Sidekick uses conversational AI to help veterans navigate healthcare, employment, housing, education and benefits using information curated by VA specialists. Inspired by decades of virtual-human research at USC’s Institute for Creative Technologies, Sidekick uses conversational AI to help veterans navigate healthcare, employment, housing, education and benefits using information curated by VA specialists. If you’re a veteran trying to use the GI Bill, retrain for a new career, find housing support, or access healthcare, the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has an extensive body of information explaining what is available and how to apply. But knowing that a resource exists is different from knowing how it applies to your circumstances, which form you need and what step to take next.

AI offers an obvious way to navigate that complexity. But a general-purpose language model raises another question: can its guidance be trusted when the information is specific, consequential and personal? In healthcare, housing and benefits, useful guidance depends not simply on retrieving information, but on knowing its source and relevance – and recognizing when specialist judgment is required. Sidekick is a case in point. Co-developed by Research Professor Skip Rizzo, director of medical virtual reality at USC Viterbi and USC Stevens School of Computing and AI’s Institute for