Olen (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Frank De Bank is a talking AI bench in Olen, created by RURANT and Thomas More students. It gathers community input until July 13, 2025. Wim Poelmans coordinates the project.
As VRT news reported, in the garden of the rectory in Olen, a municipality in the province of Antwerp, Belgium, a small town in the province of Antwerp, there is a special bench called Frank De Bank. The bench uses artificial intelligence to speak with people who walk by.
hey mentioned that the idea comes from RURANT, a group that works on rural development, together with students from the Construction and ICT programs at Thomas More University of Applied Sciences.
They wanted to find a fun and new way to ask people how they feel about the garden and what changes they would like to see. There is a red telephone on the bench. When someone picks it up and says “Frank De Bank,” the bench starts a short, friendly chat.
The bench asks people to look around the garden and think about what they like, how they feel when they are there, and what could make the place better. The answers people give help the group learn more about what the community wants for the garden.
What is Frank the talking bench doing in Olen?
According to officials, this way of asking people for their opinion is easy. They mentioned that many people do not like filling in forms or going to meetings. But they do like talking to Frank. When someone talks to the bench, they calmly give ideas. The answers are saved and checked later, but privacy is always protected.
Frank De Bank isn’t just a question-asking machine; it’s built for real conversations. Wim Poelmans from RURANT explains that Frank has some preset questions, mostly about the surrounding area. But Frank can do more than just read questions. He mentioned that its AI lets it respond in real time, changing the conversation based on what people say.
“Residents have a valuable voice and opinion, but they are not always heard well.”
Wim Poelmans, RURANT coordinator
RURANT wants to make it easier for people to share their ideas about their communities. Often, people have thoughts or worries but don’t know how to share them. By making a bench that can chat.
Frank De Bank is currently in Olen until July 13th, 2025. After that, it will move to other places. Local governments can ask RURANT to bring the bench to their area. They mentioned that the goal is for Frank to travel around, helping people in rural areas share their ideas.
