About Tilva™

About the name, Tilva™

"Tilva" is the name of Penn State Extension's AI assistant, and it fits well. There's no hidden meaning or acronym behind it. It's a short, simple name created for this tool—easy to say, easy to use, and comfortable for a wide range of audiences. It reflects a tone that's approachable, trustworthy, and grounded, with inspiration drawn from cultivation—of land and of learning.

Environmental Impacts

Most of the environmental concerns people hear about are tied to very large, open-ended AI systems that try to answer anything by drawing on massive amounts of information and computation.

Tilva is different in an important way:

• It is primarily focused on Penn State Extension's own trusted educational resources
• It searches a much smaller, more targeted knowledge base
• That makes the work more efficient than AI tools that operate across the entire internet or broad general training data

So while Tilva still uses AI, it is often doing more contained, purpose-specific processing , rather than running huge open-ended searches or generating from scratch with no boundaries.

Accuracy of using AI

Tilva generates responses only from a defined set of trusted information, primarily Penn State Extension materials and other verified Extension sources. Because it is grounded in reviewed, science-based information, responses reflect those sources, rather than generating responses from unsupported content. In addition, Penn State Extension experts are continually reviewing responses to optimize and improve responses.

Employee Impacts

Tilva was explicitly designed to work alongside educators and staff and is not meant to replace them. In fact, it can't replace the expertise that these individuals have. Tilva merely provides another avenue to tap into that expertise.

Tilva helps provide timely answers to common questions, while educators continue to offer the personalized guidance and expertise needed for more in-depth situations. This allows Extension to serve more people while keeping human support at the center.

In short, Tilva strengthens educator impact by expanding access to trusted information and supporting educators as they work directly with communities, farms, and businesses on the challenges that matter most.