How AI is Revolutionizing Veteran Support
Unlimited Data | BY Jim Kulich | 7 MIN READ
A few months after the launch of ChatGPT, a local military veteran engaged me in an interesting conversation about AI-powered support for veterans. He explained how on the one hand, veterans can access support for everything from VA education benefits to mental health care to housing derived via a wide variety of governmental and private sources. On the other hand, navigating the maze of information sources and bureaucratic processes can be overwhelming.
Bridging the Gap: Free AI for Veterans Seeking Support
My visitor made this clear by dumping the contents of a bag containing flyers, brochures and other useful information from a recent veteran’s fair on my table. It was all good stuff, but how can a veteran find the VA benefits assistance they need when and where they need it? Could free AI for veterans simplify access to these resources?
My initial reaction was that the time was right to try a new approach. One of the greatest strengths of AI-driven solutions for VA benefits assistance is the capability to gather and synthesize information from many sources and to present the results in a clear, coherent way for any audience. Instead of shifting through endless documents, veterans can now use free AI tools to seamlessly find the information they need on VA education benefits, mental health resources, housing and more.
Navigating VA Benefits Using the Power of AI
As in any good data science project, the first step was careful formulation of the problem we wanted to solve and the goals we wanted to achieve. It turned out that one of my data science graduate students, Army Sgt. Eugene Lee, had completed a comprehensive assessment of support needs for local younger veterans in an MBA class. Eugene identified three main areas of need:
- Access to VA benefits assistance, particularly Post 9/11 G.I. Bill and Montgomery G.I. Bill education benefits
- Mental health resources for veterans
- Family support services for military families
A common theme across these was the lack of centralized access to information, which these younger veterans identified as a source of stress.
Step-by-Step Creation of More Accessible VA Benefits Assistance through AI
As a first step, my team of graduate students and I decided to focus on increasing accessibility to information about VA benefits assistance, especially VA education benefits. Despite the wealth of information available on the VA website (https://www.va.gov/), it can still be complicated to navigate. Younger veterans are covered by the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill, whereas benefits for older veterans are governed by the Montgomery G.I. Bill. Service in the Reserves is handled differently than, say, service in the National Guard. The list goes on.
Step two, as always, was assembling and preparing good data. We chose to use a retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) approach, one that begins with an authenticated knowledge base. Furthermore, we worked only with publicly available URLs to avoid issues with proprietary information and to ensure that information remained fresh when the tool was deployed. Our platform, Flow XO, had these capabilities.
Some sites we chose were obvious, such as www.va.gov. However, we realized that local information could be especially useful for veterans seeking specific help. To enhance accuracy, we included over 1,500 individual pages from:
- Government VA resources
- State and local veteran support websites
- Educational institutions offering veteran-friendly programs
Next came the development of appropriate AI prompts for VA benefits assistance. These fell into three categories.
One was focused on style and tone. We asked the AI to:
- Be clear and concise
- Treat veterans with respect and dignity
- Not include emojis
Another collection of prompts told the AI what it should do. We:
- Guided the AI to provide information about a variety of veterans benefits, especially VA education benefits
- Empowered the AI to ask clarifying questions if needed
- Permitted the AI to reach beyond the knowledge base to obtain specific contact information for VA benefits assistance organizations
- Provided instructions for how the AI should act if someone presented an emergency
- Asked the AI to review interactions to ensure that responses were fair and unbiased
The third collection of prompts instructed the AI for veterans what it should not do so it could remain focused. The need for this guidance became clear during our testing phase when we asked our evaluators to break the rules and report what happened. The AI should not:
- Go off topic and was instructed to steer the conversation back to VA benefits assistance if needed
- Attempt to provide medical or legal advice
- Address topics such as drugs, violence or sex
Revelations in Research: AI Findings for VA Benefits Assistance
The balance between blacklisting and whitelisting was fascinating. Staying focused on the knowledge base was essential to ensure that accurate information was provided, especially about sensitive topics. However, being too careful led to rather bland responses, especially in cases where more specifics were needed. For example, we decided to allow AI for veterans to use information from educational institutions directly, without relying on the knowledge base. Someone seeking to make contact at Elmhurst University could now do so with all the information they needed.
Deployment and Real-World Impact of AI for Veterans
The move to deployment began with vigorous testing the AI-powered veterans assistance tool for reliability by our client and others with strong domain knowledge. Disclaimers were developed which indicated that the information provided by the AI tool for veterans is advisory and that authoritative sources should be contacted directly before making important decisions. Technical considerations, such as how the tool would be accessed on the client’s website, were resolved. A communication plan for the initial launch was developed.
Our client, American Legion Alexander Bradley Burns Post 80, played a crucial role in providing feedback and making VA benefits assistance more accessible through AI. With their support, we deployed the pilot version on their website.
I am especially grateful to Patrick Yanahan Sr., chair of the post’s marketing committee, for taking the initiative to bring me the bag of assorted materials and for his ongoing support. I am extremely proud of our group of students whose hours of volunteer work led to an excellent outcome that is now in pilot deployment on the Post 80 website. They learned a lot and made a real difference for military veterans and VA benefits assistance through AI!
Looking Ahead: AI and the Future of Veteran Support
As we continue refining our AI-driven solutions for veterans, the potential for AI chatbots and data-driven tools to improve military transition support is immense. By making VA benefits, mental health resources and education assistance more accessible, we hope to empower veterans with the information they need – when and where they need it most.
This was one of the first projects for our new AI and Advanced Analytics Innovation Lab at Elmhurst University. It is an honor to begin our work with a project that directly benefits such a deserving group as the veteran community.
If participating in projects like this while learning about dynamic concepts such as AI interests you and fits your career goals, fill out the form below or visit elmhurst.edu/DataScience to explore how our Master of Data Science and Analytics program can help you become well-prepared for the future.
