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Sujan Koirala
Sujan Koirala

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Building Personalized Assistance of Ex-Convicts: Ex-cons Thrive

Ex-Cons Thrive is a project designed to help formerly incarcerated individuals reintegrate into society by providing job search assistance, legal support, mental health services, and more. This project draws inspiration from the hardships faced by ex-convicts during reintegration, including the stigma, lack of opportunities, and legal barriers that often limit their options.

Key Features

Key Features of Ex-Cons Thrive

  1. Personalized Job Search for Ex-Convicts

    • Users can input their job experience, skills, legal restrictions, interests, and rehabilitation programs to receive tailored job recommendations.
    • AI-generated job listings with detailed descriptions, helping users find opportunities that suit their background.
  2. AI-Powered Legal Support

    • Provides categorized legal guidance on common issues faced by ex-convicts.
    • Uses AI models like Llama and Mistral to offer contextual responses to predefined legal questions, making it easier to understand complex legal processes.
  3. Mental Health Support Chatbot

    • Emotional support chatbot powered by Groq API for two AI models to help users manage stress, mental health, and other emotional challenges they may face during reintegration.
    • Provides personalized suggestions and coping strategies based on user inputs.

How Ex-Con Thrive Leverages Multiple AI Models

Llama3-8b-8192

  • This model is designed for high-speed token processing and excellent performance. It excels in performing tasks requiring faster response times, making it ideal for providing real-time job recommendations based on user input (experience, skills, legal restrictions, etc.).

Mixtral-8x7b-32768

  • This model is slower compared to Llama3, processing ~80.7 tokens/second. However, providing more creative, contextually rich, and nuanced answers is its strength, which makes it ideal for legal support and mental health features.

Performance Comparison

Model Speed (tokens/sec) Best Use Case Strengths
Llama3-8b-8192 212.7 Job Recommendations Fast, efficient, ideal for generating multiple results.
Mixtral-8x7b-32768 80.7 Legal Support, Mental Health Deep, context-aware, ideal for nuanced, complex responses.

Challenges Faced While Working with APIs

While developing the Ex-Cons Thrive application, I faced several challenges while integrating and utilizing multiple AI APIs. Here are some of the major issues I faced:

  1. API Response Formatting:

    One of the major challenges was ensuring that the responses from the APIs were properly formatted and structured. The responses from the Groq Cloud API, particularly when generating job suggestions, sometimes returned unexpected formats. I spent almost an hour for maintaining suitable format.

  2. Rate Limiting:

    Managing API rate limits was another hurdle. During peak testing times, I experienced instances where requests to the Groq API were throttled, leading to delayed responses or failed requests.

  3. Integration Complexity:

    Integrating two different AI models into a cohesive user experience was complex.

Though these challenges were difficult, I found it very rewarding to overcome them. Each of these obstacles not only enhanced my problem-solving skills but also deepened my understanding of how to effectively work with AI APIs.

Conclusion

Ex-Cons Thrive aims to benefit ex-convicts by providing personalized job assistance and support through the use of advanced AI models. The combination of Llama3-8b-8192 and Mixtral-8x7b-32768, facilitated by Groq Cloud, ensures that users receive tailored job suggestions based on their unique experiences, skills, and needs and mental as well as legal support.

By addressing the specific challenges faced by ex-convicts, this project not only aims to improve employment opportunities but also seeks to develop a supportive community.

Some snapshots of the project

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