---
title: University AI Chatbot
emoji: 🎓
colorFrom: red
colorTo: yellow
sdk: gradio
sdk_version: 5.25.2
app_file: app.py
pinned: false
---

A student-friendly AI chatbot that simplifies university handbook queries.


# 🎓 University Inquiries AI Chatbot

A conversational AI chatbot that helps students navigate and understand the official university handbook using natural language. Built with Gradio, Sentence Transformers, and FLAN-T5, it offers friendly and accurate responses based on handbook content — with built-in feedback tracking and upvote/downvote tuning.

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## ✨ Features

- 🧠 **Semantic Search:** Uses Sentence Transformers to find the closest handbook Q&A to a student's question.
- 🗣️ **LLM Explanation:** Automatically rewrites formal handbook responses in a student-friendly tone using FLAN-T5.
- 👍 **Feedback Memory:** Stores user feedback (upvotes/downvotes) to improve future responses.
- 🔄 **Smart Matching:** Merges similar feedback questions (≥80% similarity) to avoid duplication.
- 🎨 **Custom UI:** Includes a PUP-themed responsive design with a gradient background and styled chat layout.


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## 🧰 Tech Stack

- [Gradio](https://gradio.app/) — for UI interface
- [Sentence Transformers](https://www.sbert.net/) — for question embedding & similarity
- [Transformers (FLAN-T5)](https://huggingface.co/google/flan-t5-small) — for natural explanation generation
- JSON — for persistent feedback storage

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## 📁 Files

- `app.py` — main chatbot logic & interface
- `dataset.json` — official university Q&A set
- `feedback.json` — live feedback database
- `README.md` — this file!

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## 📦 Installation

```bash
pip install -r requirements.txt