Pitches for AI assistants that can help you send emails or prepare a pitch deck may seem old, but what about a pitch designed to help new immigrants navigate in America? How about a digital assistant that can connect someone to important social services or help them feel supported in a foreign environment? A new virtual assistant, ALMA, designed by the nonprofit International Rescue Committee (IRC), is designed to do just that.
almaStanding for “AI for Life Mapping Assistance”, it was created in-house by several IRC teams and their customers, becoming known as a digital learning tool. aprendIAIt draws from a vast library of IRC resources – standard client materials, staff training resources, and information provided by trusted outside organizations – to provide specialized assistance to refugees, special immigrant visa holders, and others,
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Notably, ALMA is based on WhatsApp, one of the leading communication platforms for immigrant communities across the country, including those served by IRC. This is also a growing site Non-English Alternative News Resources And local events. Individuals in need simply text ALMA’s number (+1 619-658-5100) to receive immediate assistance.
“We wanted to make sure customers had a way to get reliable answers and resources 24/7,” said Tara Catanach, ALMA’s designer and IRC’s project director for virtual reception and placement. Catanach points out that, unlike popular chatbot companions marketed by major players in the field, ALMA is not designed to constantly engage with a client—the kind of chatbot codependency currently causing concern among mental health professionals.
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Instead, ALMA is designed as an emergency response tool with very specific use cases in mind: a person new to the US who needs help finding their benefits or nearby social services. They want to know how to apply for housing or what’s the best way to talk to their landlord. They may ask to role-play a specific job interview or receive an overview of their rights.
“It is easy to refer to ALMA as a virtual caseworker, but ALMA does not replace any of the work that our offices do,” Catanach said.
IRC explains that ALMA uses LLM not for core content, but to personalize responses. For now, it uses OpenAI’s GPT 4.1 and GPT 4.1 Mini, but the organization notes that ALMA can run on any model. It is also structured with safeguards that direct conversations about mental health, abuse or domestic violence to other organizations or escalate them to IRC staff.
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ALMA can also access the Internet if a person’s requests are outside its scope, but Catanach describes it as a stable pool of information, evergreen resources that are unlikely to propagate misinformation or misleading facts like other AI-powered search engines.
For example, unlike a service like ChatGPT, “ALMA knows who our users are,” Catanach said. “They’re English language learners. They’re new to America. The client doesn’t need to do any coaching to get the information they need.”
Across the United States, immigrant and refugee populations have been forced to live in an increasingly complex and hostile political environment. The Trump administration has taken a tough stance on immigration, including restricting and suspending special visa statuses refugee admission programMany people fear detention, deportation, etc, Supervision As Guidelines on admissions have been rewritten by federal leaders,
Meanwhile, leaders of social platforms and Big Tech, including WhatsApp’s parent company Meta, have reached settlements with the administration. Recent changes to the platform’s advertising policy alarm bells rang Among privacy experts, as well as Trump officials involved in the investigation ICE agentUsed the app for monitoring functions. WhatsApp has become aware to ruin false news When rumors spread they go out of control.
Nevertheless, ALMA is hosted on WhatsApp because that is where the people in need actually are, and where they already have the support system in place, rather than a separate website or app.
WhatsApp also recently Pledged to warn users about government spywareUser messages are end-to-end encrypted by default, but ALMA collects phone numbers and other WhatsApp profile information for IRC research, Catanach told Mashable, The AI has been instructed to ask users not to share identifying information, such as a personal address, or even their immigration status, unless they are comfortable, Legal advice – including questions about green cards or constantly evolving visa policies – is also barred from the Virtual Caseworker Assistant, which directs users to outside sources if they need help with their case,
ALMA first launched in Dari/Persian, English, Spanish and Swahili, the most commonly used languages among IRC customers. Catanach says they are testing ALMA’s capabilities in 10 more languages for future updates, and are considering adding new topics like health care and schooling to ALMA’s knowledge base. It is also expected to get an accessibility upgrade like the option to send voice notes.
IRC expects to reach 100,000 users in ALMA’s first year. “Our goal is to get ALMA into the hands of people who can use its support.”