SouthcoastMA Blue Economy LLM (Unofficial)

Blue Economy is fundamental to Southcoast Massachusetts for its history, and New Bedford is the number one value fishing port in the U.S.

Nevertheless, the development of the blue economy in Southcoast Massachusetts has been impacted by recent trends of skill-biased technological change, globalization, and COVID-19, which increase inequality, political polarization, and fragmentation and profoundly affect society’s foundation.

Then, according to the “Request for Concept Papers”, it is urgent to

• Promote technology transfer and commercialization
• Support regional business development and entrepreneurship
• Enhance regional economic competitiveness and resilience
• Extend equitable access to jobs and career paths in blue economy sectors
• Expose students to meaningful career-relevant experiences and pathways
• Increase the pipeline of skilled professionals in known areas of the blue economy

Then, this project, UMass Dartmouth Blue Economy LLM, develops a unifying platform for Southcoast Massachusetts community for the blue economy using the recent breakthrough in AI and Large Language Models. Currently, the project can answer questions based on information available at

• University of Massachusetts Dartmouth,
• Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI),
• New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC),
• City of New Bedford,
• Town of Dartmouth,
• Town of Westport, and
• Southcoast Health

The project is in collaboration with students, administration, and faculty from

• Division of Student Affairs
• College of Arts and Sciencs
• Charlton College of Business
• College of Engineering

We plan to add more information in the areas such as:

• Internship and job opportunities,
• Sustainable business opportunities, and
• Healthcare access

The project contributes to

• Promote technology transfer and commercialization: The project provides recent AI and LLM technologies to the community.
• Support regional business development and entrepreneurship: The project will create opportunities for business development and entrepreneurship by providing a platform to connect with the community.
• Enhance regional economic competitiveness and resilience: The project will make Southcoast Massachusetts the first region to adopt AI and LLM to connect communities for competitiveness and resilience.
• Extend equitable access to jobs and career paths in Blue Economy sectors: The project will provide equitable access to jobs and career paths via a virtual assistant accessible to everyone.
• Expose students to meaningful career-relevant experiences and pathways: Students will gain useful experiences in AI and LLM that will lead to their employment.
• Increase the pipeline of skilled professionals in known areas of the Blue Economy: The project will provide opportunities for skilled professionals to connect with government and businesses.

Thus, the project significantly contributes to the Campus Blue Economy Initiative’s aim to “increase the university’s role and positive impact on the regional economy by making strategic investments in programs and projects that advance, support, and promote equitable and sustainable regional outcomes.”

At this moment, the project is managed with limited resources. Thus, we cannot offer continuous high-quality service. The output may not be satisfactory at this stage solely due to the lack of resources.

This is a proof-of-concept version. The code has not undergone testing, verification, fine-tuning, or RLHF. This is not a production deployment. It is highly recommended to thoroughly verify the output before proceeding with any actual use.

We would like to thank the students, faculty, and staff who participated in the initial discussions that inspired this project when he discussed the generative TA project. The current presentation of the project is preliminary, ongoing, and subject to further revision.

We developed the first version in May 2024. The July 2024 version included data from UMass Dartmouth, WHOI, City of New Bedford, Town of Dartmouth, Town of Westport, and Southcoast Health. However, given the project’s scope and current resource limitations, as people are preparing for fall classes, the current version has data limited to only some parts of UMass Dartmouth. As this is a prototype, please do not expect the answers to always be satisfactory.