• Do you struggle to find University policies and regulations?
• Do you ask colleagues how to solve digital issues with computer hardware or software?

If you can relate to the above or have similar questions, we are excited to introduce our new policy & digital support AI tool, Newton – now available to all University staff*.

*Students will be invited to use Newton later, after consultation to assess their specific needs and how AI could solve common student pain points.

On this page:

What does Newton do?
How do I use Newton?
How does Newton work?
What’s next?
Feedback to us!

What does Newton do?

Newton, in its current beta stage, is designed to help you find relevant and up-to-date information about the University of Lincoln’s policies and regulations. You can use it to get quick answers to your questions without having to search through multiple sources or contact other departments. Newton can also provide support on common digital issues through ‘How-To…’ guides provided by Digital Services.

With instant access to policies and regulations, it is now easier than ever to check your compliance with university policy and best practices; while also finding out how the University is here to support you.

Newton is also intended to promote awareness and compliance with the University’s policies and best practices, as well as foster a culture of innovation and collaboration around digital technologies.

How do I use Newton?

Please Note: Newton is new and evolving every day, and the University’s policies are extensive and located in many different digital locations. Because of this, Newton does not yet provide answers for all policies. However, Newton is adept with many of the most-used policies and is ready to answer your questions on the policies listed in the drop-down box below.

We are working to increase this list every day, and we would love to hear your feedback on which policies you feel Newton should be knowledgeable about next.

What should I ask?

To use Newton, focus on asking questions which should be able to be answered using only information from our web IT Service Management articles and SharePoint policies.

Newton can currently only retrieve the top 3 ‘chunks’ of content from all sources that are most relevant to your question, so complex or multi-step questions are best explored step-by-step. For example, you can ask about specific IT procedures, policy details, or general queries and then ask follow-up clarification questions if needed.

Please note that Newton cannot perform complex data analysis or provide statistics, such as identifying the number of files not updated since a certain date. It will only answer questions where the answer is present within the documents. This ensures accurate responses grounded in information from the University of Lincoln’s approved knowledge base.

When using Newton, remember to:

• Ask questions specific to policies or for support on digital issues; Newton can only answer questions where the answer is present within the documents it has been trained on.
• Ask complex questions step-by-step rather than multiple questions in one, asking follow-up questions if further clarification needed.
• Avoid asking for complex data analysis.

Here are some examples of good questions:

• “What actions are considered violations of the acceptable use policy?”
• “What is the process for returning to work after a period of sickness?”
• “How does the university identify and report suspicious financial transactions?”
• “What are the procedures for handling assessment-related complaints?”
• “Who are the designated staff members responsible for safeguarding?”

When interacting with Newton, if you find a response unsatisfactory or feel that valuable information is missing, please provide feedback using the thumbs-up and thumbs-down buttons at the bottom of each response.

How does Newton work?

This tool is powered by a RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) Chat Bot, which combines AI search capabilities with natural language processing to provide informed responses. Here is a brief overview of how it works: 

1. Understanding the Question: When you ask a question, the Chat Bot looks at what you asked and any previous messages to figure out what you mean and what the important words are. It then creates a simple version of your question to find the best answer. 

2. Searching for Information: The Chat Bot searches through available documents (like web articles and SharePoint policies) using smart search methods that understand the meaning of words, not just the exact words. It only looks at documents you have permission to see. 

3. Choosing the Best Results: The Chat Bot picks the top 3 most relevant documents or pages based on how well they answer your question. 

4. Creating a Summary: Using advanced AI, the Chat Bot summarises the information from those documents into a clear and concise answer to your question. 

5. Giving You the Answer: Finally, the Chat Bot presents this summarised information to you in a conversational way, including where the information came from.

What’s next?

Newton is a constantly evolving tool, and a number of useful and exciting features will be added over the coming months.

In addition to adding more policies, we are looking to include ways to personalise your experience while using Newton, as well as fine-tuning the look and feel of the user interface. This will include the ability to effectively adapt to different screen sizes as required.

Feedback to us! 

Please submit feedback using the thumbs-up and thumbs-down icons at the bottom of each response. This feedback will help us refine the tool. Following testing with focus groups, we plan to make this available to students at a later date.

Do you have a policy you want to include in Newton’s data? Please contact Legal and Compliance Services at policies@lincoln.ac.uk.

We hope you find Newton useful!