Ukraine launches chatbot to teach children to face dangers of wartime

The program has a game format and was created specifically for children and teenagers, the Osvitoria educational project reports.

What is the problem?

russia's recent massive missile attacks against Ukraine prove once again that the danger continues. Preserving our lives depends not only on the skillful work of Ukraine's Armed Forces but also on the actions of people currently in the rear. In particular, it's worth knowing how to behave in case of certain dangers of wartime. And if adults mostly have access to open information and can familiarize themselves with it, then children need to be explained or directed to appropriate educational programs.

What is the solution?

The Engineer's Week team has developed a chatbot called Voby2, which teaches how to face the dangers of wartime. The program is in the format of a game and was created specifically for children and teenagers.

"The relevance of creating such a chatbot today does not raise any questions. The Engineer's Week team considers it a special task to provide children and teenagers with the opportunity to participate in obtaining the necessary knowledge about the actions of the civilian population in war conditions with the help of a format close to young people. A Voby2 chatbot is not a theoretician but a practitioner in matters of civil population protection. It calls on its readers to do the same," the developers of the program note.

How does it work?

Voby2 has in the form of a game: it has three thematic levels, each of which contains from 20 to 30 questions. Each question contains 2-4 answer options. After the player chooses one of the options, the bot either confirms its correctness in the format of a short comment or (also in the format of a short comment) explains why the answer is incorrect and which should have been chosen instead. The chatbot accompanies the comments with thematic illustrations.

Currently, Voby2 teaches how the civilian population should act during:

• air raid,
• curfew (and in case of its violation),
• staying near the place of street fights,
• mortar and artillery fire,
• destruction of the house and falling under the rubble,
• living in temporarily occupied territories,
• being held hostage or captured, etc.

The topics of providing first aid, evacuation, and return to de-occupied settlements are presented separately.

You can use the chatbot by following the link.