SMSavvy - A System to Enhance the Capabilities of Feature Phones Using Automation

A large part of our daily lives is spent online, consuming services provided over the Internet. Most Institutions and Corporate Organizations both private and public rely on the Internet to discern critical information, services and utilities. The Internet has thus become a central figure governing human life. Connectivity to the Internet however requires relevant hardware and network infrastructure. Basic knowledge of the web is also critical to navigating through the Internet. Access to Internet capable devices, adequate network infrastructure and basic knowhow of using the web are the main hindrances faced by developing countries like India in extending the outreach of the Internet. Individuals within lower income brackets are notably impacted by the three aforementioned factors. This results in a scenario where they possess feature phones or outdated mobile devices that lack compatibility with contemporary internet standards. Additionally, the financial constraints they face often render them unable to afford high-speed internet data plans. This digital disparity significantly restricts their access to the advantages of the digital landscape. In this Paper we aim to develop a prototype, which we call SMSavvy that can help provide access to Artificial Intelligence powered chatbots such as ChatGPT through short message service (SMS) interface in feature phones. We do this by using Desktop Automation and Webscraping. An Automation script running on a remote server connected to the internet carries out the request received through SMS from the feature phone. It scrapes the response from the AI chatbot and encapsulates it into an SMS before sending it back to the user. By doing this, reliance on fast internet is overcome and so is the need to purchase expensive internet capable devices curtailed. This prototype can pave the way for more sophisticated and larger cloud based SMS automation systems.