Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE) applies technologies to foreign credentialing to improve our products and services. When considering our long history of adopting new tools, ECE's results have become more efficient, consistent, and accurate.
With innovations such as generative AI, ECE will continue to maintain our high standards for credential evaluations. As part of our Core Values, our commitment to excellence, integrity, and care ensures that the implementation of new technology benefits people educated around the world.
What Is Generative AI?
“Generative AI (GenAI or Generative Artificial Intelligence) is a type of Artificial Intelligence that can create a wide variety of data, such as images, videos, audio, text, and 3D models. It does this by learning patterns from existing data, then using this knowledge to generate new and unique outputs.”
Check out this generative AI website for samples and demonstrations: https://generativeai.net/
How Does ECE Use Generative AI?
ECE remains committed to adopting new technologies to aid our mission. But we also understand the risks and limitations of generative AI and want to ensure responsible use. Our goal is to protect customers, clients, employees, and the organization from harm.
ECE reports are prepared by qualified professional staff, supported by a library of more than 35,000 publications on international and comparative education and more than 350,000 sample educational credentials.
One generative AI tool ECE has is our chatbot, Bingo. Chatbots allow customers to have quick access to information, help with navigation, and can connect users directly to a customer care agent. The accessibility, ease of use, and efficiency of the chatbot makes it our most multifaceted tool.
Bingo is programmed to answer more than 100 questions and is still learning. By utilizing a chatbot, ECE is able to provide information to individuals or institutions 24 hours a day and seven days a week.
The Safety of Using Generative AI
ECE uses personal information to manage online accounts and process orders; to prepare and deliver our evaluation reports; to improve experiences on our website; to customize ad content; and provide marketing information, if agreed.
There are risks in using generative AI technology, including uncertainty about who owns the AI-created content. Additionally, there are security/privacy concerns with inputting sensitive information about an employee, client, customer, etc., when interacting with a chatbot.
The accuracy of the content created by these technologies cannot be relied upon, as the information may be outdated, misleading or—in some cases—fabricated.
Future Generative AI Usage at ECE
ECE follows the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) guidelines. These state that evaluation report content is ultimately the responsibility of trusted evaluation staff or established NACES Members.
While we are working towards a world where documents and evaluation reports are submitted digitally, ECE acknowledges there are many ways educational documents are issued. From PDFs to original 30-year-old paper credentials – all documents undergo the same forensic analysis to ensure the authenticity required for evaluation reports to meet the NACES standards. This means all educational documents are reviewed by trained evaluators who ultimately provide the equivalency, credit, and grade conversion decisions.
ECE® evaluation reports cannot be prepared by generative AI. However, generative AI offers tools that can assist with the evaluation process. The use of these AI tools may help evaluators cut down the preparation time for reports; by recognizing a program that has been previously evaluated, the technology can assure the consistency and efficiency of the evaluation process.
When choosing to use a generative AI, ECE will always keep your safety top of mind. ECE is committed to ensuring personally identifiable information is secure. We have implemented appropriate technical and organizational measures to secure all personal data and protect it from unauthorized access or disclosure. All electronic personal data received is stored on secure servers, and paper records are held in a restricted access environment.
Effective security is a team effort involving the participation and support of every ECE® employee.
Please see our full General Data Protection Regulation or Terms and Conditions for Evaluation Reports.