Ontology-Based AI Mentor for Training Future “Digital Railway” Engineers

There has been a lively discussion in the pedagogical community about the effects from applying information technology to the education process. Educators’ activities are often reduced to attempts at bringing some modern format to conventional education, yet without challenging its cognitive side. The digital transformation of industries requires a revision of existing education practices in industry-oriented universities. This is particularly important for railway universities oriented towards the industry that is in demand for engineers to operate on digital railways. A potential effect is the formation of a digital ecosystem “railway industry—railway-oriented university”, to be implemented in a service-based format. The focus for choosing implementation tools is a service multi-agent architecture, with its core element being the Artificial Intelligence Mentor in a mobile or web application format. The AI mentor structure consists of three models which are the educator behaviour model, the subject domain/training course model, and the student identification model. These models are at the core of a didactic framework called “Industry-oriented University is a Knowledge Factory”. They enable the development of theoretical statements of this framework to a certain working hypothesis, which could be implemented through integrative education solutions for training future “digital railway” engineers.