Examining the Influence of Varied Levels of Domain Knowledge Base Inclusion in GPT-based Intelligent Tutors

Recent advancements in large language models (LLMs) have facilitated the development of chatbots with sophisticated conversational capabilities. However, LLMs exhibit frequent inaccurate responses to queries, hindering applications in educational settings. In this paper, we investigate the effectiveness of integrating a knowledge base (KB) with LLM intelligent tutors to increase response reliability. To achieve this, we design a scaleable KB that affords educational supervisors seamless integration of lesson curricula, which is automatically processed by the intelligent tutoring system. We then detail an evaluation, where student participants were presented with questions about the artificial intelligence curriculum to respond to. GPT-4 intelligent tutors with varying hierarchies of KB access and human domain experts then assessed these responses. Lastly, students cross-examined the intelligent tutors' responses to the domain experts' and ranked their various pedagogical abilities. Results suggest that, although these intelligent tutors still demonstrate a lower accuracy compared to domain experts, the accuracy of the intelligent tutors increases when access to a KB is granted. We also observe that the intelligent tutors with KB access exhibit better pedagogical abilities to speak like a teacher and understand students than those of domain experts, while their ability to help students remains lagging behind domain experts.