Open AccessChloe for COVID-19: Evolution of an Intelligent Conversational Agent to Address Infodemic Management Needs During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Author(s) -
Sophia Siedlikowski,
Louis-Philippe Noël,
Stephanie Anne Moynihan,
Marc R. Robin
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
jmir. journal of medical internet research/journal of medical internet research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.446
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1439-4456
pISSN - 1438-8871
DOI - 10.2196/27283
Subject(s) - chatbot , covid-19 , pandemic , computer science , knowledge management , public health , data science , process (computing) , scalability , business , medicine , world wide web , nursing , disease , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , operating system , database
There is an unprecedented demand for infodemic management due to rapidly evolving information about the novel COVID-19 pandemic. This viewpoint paper details the evolution of a Canadian digital information tool, Chloe for COVID-19, based on incremental leveraging of artificial intelligence techniques. By providing an accessible summary of Chloe’s development, we show how proactive cooperation between health, technology, and corporate sectors can lead to a rapidly scalable, safe, and secure virtual chatbot to assist public health efforts in keeping Canadians informed. We then highlight Chloe’s strengths, the challenges we faced during the development process, and future directions for the role of chatbots in infodemic management. The information presented here may guide future collaborative efforts in health technology in order to enhance access to accurate and timely health information to the public.