STEVENS POINT, Wis. — Alex Suscha is the CEO and founder of Sourcer AI, a subscription-based, fact-checking tool.
It’s something he created as a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
“All you need to do is, I already scanned this but, you click this and instantly get a 150-word summary of the article,” said Suscha.
Sourcer AI can be downloaded and attached to internet browsers. The program then breaks down articles and provides the reader with a summary, including a political bias score and a reputability rating.
He said his idea for it came while he was learning about artificial intelligence in a business class, and media literacy in an English class.
“My business professor really encouraged us to try to expand our knowledge on artificial intelligence and see what different ways it could be used,” said Suscha. “Why can’t we have an AI-powered fact-checker? So, I scoured the internet, and I did not find anything that I had in mind.”
He hired two fellow students to help turn his idea into a reality. He also worked alongside Tim McKeough, associate lecturer in the Sentry School of Business and Economics at UW-Stevens Point, to take the business to pitch contests where he competed against students from other colleges for funding.
“I was enthralled by Alex’s passion, and his knowledge, and all of the market research he did, and just his drive to make this work,” said McKeough, who will be offering a new entrepreneurial class to help students further progress their business ideas.
“To take their business wherever they want it to go, and I help coach them through that, and Alex is going to be one of those students I will help,” said McKeough.
Suscha said at any other college, he doesn’t think starting this company would have been possible.
“It was the support system that UWSP gave me in general that allowed me to persevere through this, and just the belief in myself, that this was the right idea for me. This is what I wanted to do with my life,” said Suscha.