{"id":23161,"date":"2025-10-27T11:00:05","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T10:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/?p=23161"},"modified":"2025-10-24T10:44:32","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T08:44:32","slug":"ritchy-erklaert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/en\/2025\/10\/27\/ritchy-erklaert\/","title":{"rendered":"Ritchy Explained \u2013 How the Chatbot Works &#038; How to Get the Most Out of It"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"twoclick_social_bookmarks_post_23161 social_share_privacy clearfix 1.6.4 locale-en_US sprite-en_US\"><\/div><div class=\"twoclick-js\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/* <![CDATA[ *\/\njQuery(document).ready(function($){if($('.twoclick_social_bookmarks_post_23161')){$('.twoclick_social_bookmarks_post_23161').socialSharePrivacy({\"txt_help\":\"Wenn Sie diese Felder durch einen Klick aktivieren, werden Informationen an Facebook, Twitter, Flattr, Xing, t3n, LinkedIn, Pinterest oder Google eventuell ins Ausland \\u00fcbertragen und unter Umst\\u00e4nden auch dort gespeichert. N\\u00e4heres erfahren Sie durch einen Klick auf das <em>i<\\\/em>.\",\"settings_perma\":\"Dauerhaft aktivieren und Daten\\u00fcber-tragung zustimmen:\",\"info_link\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.heise.de\\\/ct\\\/artikel\\\/2-Klicks-fuer-mehr-Datenschutz-1333879.html\",\"uri\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\\\/itc\\\/en\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/27\\\/ritchy-erklaert\\\/\",\"post_id\":23161,\"post_title_referrer_track\":\"Ritchy+Explained+%E2%80%93+How+the+Chatbot+Works+%26%23038%3B+How+to+Get+the+Most+Out+of+It\",\"display_infobox\":\"on\"});}});\n\/* ]]> *\/<\/script><\/div><p><div id=\"attachment_22888\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/files\/2025\/09\/Ritchy_20250919_BAU_Blog-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22888\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-22888\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/files\/2025\/09\/Ritchy_20250919_BAU_Blog-1-300x200.png\" alt=\"Head of a raccoon\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/files\/2025\/09\/Ritchy_20250919_BAU_Blog-1-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/files\/2025\/09\/Ritchy_20250919_BAU_Blog-1-1024x683.png 1024w, https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/files\/2025\/09\/Ritchy_20250919_BAU_Blog-1-768x512.png 768w, https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/files\/2025\/09\/Ritchy_20250919_BAU_Blog-1.png 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-22888\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Own Illustration<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n<p>In our last post, we introduced you to <a href=\"https:\/\/ritchy.itc.rwth-aachen.de\/\">Ritchy<\/a>, the IT-ServiceDesk&#8217;s AI-powered support chatbot. If you&#8217;re not yet familiar with Ritchy, we recommend reading the <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/en\/2025\/09\/22\/ritchy\/\">first post<\/a> first. There you can learn more about the background and development of the chatbot.<\/p>\n<p>When you select the support chat function on our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.itc.rwth-aachen.de\/cms\/~rbnjb\/it-center\/?lidx=1\">IT Center website<\/a>, in <a href=\"https:\/\/help.itc.rwth-aachen.de\/en\/\">IT Center Help<\/a>, or directly in <a href=\"https:\/\/moodle.rwth-aachen.de\/?lang=en\">RWTHmoodle<\/a>, you can now choose whether you want to chat with Ritchy or with the IT-ServiceDesk staff. But if you&#8217;ve been wondering how Ritchy works in detail, we have the answer for you in this post.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #00549f;\">How Ritchy Accesses Knowledge<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The chatbot Ritchy is based on the latest language models from OpenAI (GPT5-CHAT), which are integrated via Microsoft Azure. In addition, Ritchy uses the Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) method to provide accurate answers. This is also provided by Microsoft Azure. Ritchy accesses the stored IT Center Help knowledge database to answer queries as accurately and contextually as possible.<\/p>\n<p><em>RAG is an approach in which generative AI models not only draw on their trained knowledge, but also retrieve specific external information from connected knowledge sources. Instead of relying solely on the data in the language model, RAG&#8217;s AI first searches for relevant content, for example in a document database, and then uses this information to generate an informed response.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The big advantage here is that RAG significantly increases topicality and content accuracy, especially for context-specific or complex technical topics that are not included in the training data set. One example is queries about multi-factor authentication and the associated tokens, whose meaning at RWTH differs from the usual standard definition. RAG thus brings together the best of both worlds: precise information from the stored content of public documentation and natural-sounding language and logical structure from the implemented language model. This improves the quality of responses by basing support requests on verified and up-to-date knowledge.<\/p>\n<p>Access to previously learned knowledge from the language models has been deliberately restricted in Ritchy. As a result, Ritchy only draws on its stored knowledge and does not actively view content from the internet. Some queries, especially those relating to content that is not available in the public documentation, may therefore not be answered.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, a so-called system prompt has been stored, which determines how Ritchy should behave when responding to requests. Ritchy is configured to take on the role of a support employee when responding to requests. For each request submitted, this system prompt is passed on to the language model as context. The focus is clearly on providing support for IT problems.<\/p>\n<p>If use cases go beyond the IT support context but still require the functionalities of an AI chatbot, this can be easily solved using <a href=\"https:\/\/chat.kiconnect.nrw\/\">RWTHgpt<\/a>. You can read about the best way to formulate questions in RWTHgpt in the blog post \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/en\/2025\/08\/25\/prompt-engineering-mit-rwthgpt\/\">Ask Better, Answer Better<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0There you will also find further information and background knowledge about RWTHgpt.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #00549f;\">Working With Ritchy<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>AI systems reliably recognize patterns, but they do not know the user&#8217;s initial situation and find it difficult to understand it without the right information.<\/p>\n<p>In order for Ritchy to provide the best possible answers, it is important to give the chatbot enough information when making inquiries. Similar to human support staff, context is needed to understand a problem.<\/p>\n<p>A short statement such as \u201cI forgot my password\u201d is too general in this case. Additional information, such as which IT Center Service the password was forgotten for, is helpful. The following aspects should be taken into account:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Concretization:<\/strong> The more precise the request or task in the request, the more accurately Ritchy can respond.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Contextualization: <\/strong>The more context Ritchy receives for a request, the easier it is to assign it to existing topics. For example, when requesting a password change, always specify the associated service.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Clarity: <\/strong>Try to avoid words that are used in multiple contexts with different definitions. For terms that are used in multiple subject areas in the RWTH context, you should specify the relevant topic. For example, if you are referring to <em>tokens<\/em>, it is necessary to specify whether it concerns <em>MFA<\/em> or <em>RWTHgpt<\/em>. And if it concerns <em>MFA<\/em>, you should specify exactly which service it is.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Refinement: <\/strong>Prompting is not a one-way street. Especially in the current test phase, it is possible that Ritchy will not provide a complete answer right away or will need additional data. It is worth asking follow-up questions or asking Ritchy the question again with additional information.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you still need more information at the end of a chat or want to communicate with IT-ServiceDesk staff, this is of course also possible. By selecting \u201cContact IT-ServiceDesk\u201d at the top right of the web interface, you can decide whether you want to chat directly with support staff during service hours or whether you want to create a ticket in the IT-ServiceDesk system instead. You can also specify whether or not you want the previous chat history to be transferred.<\/p>\n<p>Have you already used Ritchy and gained experience with it? Let us know in the comments.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Responsible for the content of this article is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.itc.rwth-aachen.de\/cms\/it-center\/it-center\/profil\/team\/~epvp\/mitarbeiter-campus-\/?gguid=PER-TC3HP2Z&amp;allou=1&amp;lidx=1\">Robin Jakobitz<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6019,"featured_media":22887,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"c2c_always_allow_admin_comments":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1514,316,315],"tags":[620,1491],"class_list":["post-23161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ki","category-projekte-kooperationen","category-services-support","tag-ki","tag-ritchy"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23161"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23187,"href":"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23161\/revisions\/23187"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}