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Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a topic for the future – it has arrived in the centre of society and is changing the way we research, learn and work. As one of Europe’s leading technical universities, it is therefore crucial for RWTH Aachen University to actively engage with the potential and challenges of this technology.
As RWTH’s central IT facility, the IT Center plays a central role in this: it develops technical solutions, ensures a data protection-compliant infrastructure and creates new services that enable the use of AI in the university context.
And not just since yesterday: For some time now, the IT Center has been working intensively on making artificial intelligence usable for the entire university.
With this article, we are launching a new blog series on the topic of AI at the IT Center. Over the coming weeks and months, we will provide you with insights into our projects, tools and experiences. We will show how artificial intelligence influences and can change our (university) everyday lives and provide helpful tips on the practical use of AI.
RWTHgpt: the University’s Central AI Tool
RWTHgpt, the first university-wide AI service, was launched in July 2024. Developed by the IT Center in cooperation with the Center for Teaching and Learning Services (CLS), RWTHgpt enables the secure and data protection-compliant use of generative AI – initially for employees, and since the end of 2024 also for students.
RWTHgpt is based on modern language models such as GPT-4o and is provided via a specially developed web interface that offers both cost control and technical flexibility. The service is continuously being developed. New functions and regular feedback from the community. In our previous articles on this topic, you can find out how RWTHgpt has developed and which milestones we have already achieved.
KI:connect.nrw – AI for the Whole of NRW
The KI:connect.nrw project, which is funded by the Ministry of Culture and Science as part of DH.NRW, was launched at the beginning of 2025 on the basis of RWTHgpt. The aim is to provide a platform for all NRW universities that enables data protection-friendly access to generative AI. This is a project that is being carried out jointly with the CLS. The IT Center’s focus is on developing the platform, providing the technical infrastructure and providing support. Universities can thus integrate their own language models and flexibly control usage behaviour. The nationwide rollout is currently in preparation and live operation is almost ready to start. Stay tuned!
Ritchy – The Smart Helper of the IT-ServiceDesk
In 2024, the IT-ServiceDesk received around 65,000 enquiries – and the trend is rising. This high number is the result of the increase in the number of students from 32,240 in the winter semester 2010/11 to 44,892 in the winter semester 2024/25. More English-language enquiries, a wider range of digital services and the desire for faster help are presenting the team with new challenges. To meet these requirements and process enquiries efficiently and promptly, the IT Center recently introduced a modern solution: Ritchy. Ritchy is an AI-supported chatbot that – currently still in test mode – supports users of the IT Center services. Named “RWTH IT Center Helps You”, the chatbot provides round-the-clock assistance with frequently asked questions about IT services.
What makes Ritchy special is that it uses both language models from Microsoft Azure OpenAI and Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) to provide specific IT Center information – in this case, information from IT Center Help. Its answers are therefore not based on general internet data, but on verified content from the IT Center Help documentation portal.
In addition to Ritchy, the IT-ServiceDesk uses an internal version of the chatbot that is only available to 1st level support. This also accesses the internal knowledge database and helps employees to answer complex support queries quickly.
WestAI – AI Computing Power for Research and Companies
Another forward-looking project in which the IT Center is involved is called WestAI. The AI service centre, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, is run by the University of Bonn together with partners from science and research. The aim is to create low-threshold access to AI technologies, both for research and for companies.
The IT Center provides part of the technical infrastructure for this, including high-performance computing resources and user-friendly access via HPC JupyterHub. The offer is aimed at research projects as well as small and medium-sized companies that want to develop or test AI applications. The computing power is currently available free of charge. WestAI also provides personalised advice – from the initial idea through to implementation.
An Outlook – What Can You Expect in the Blog Series?
The projects presented here are just the beginning. The IT Center will continue to actively shape the topic of artificial intelligence in the future. In the coming posts, we will therefore take a closer look at selected applications, provide insights into the technical basics and talk about the challenges.
It’s worth staying tuned!
Responsible for the content of this article is Janin Iglauer.
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