IBM Delivers Corona19 Information with 'AI Chatbot'
IBM will provide free support so that countries around the world can use AI chatbot 'Watson' to provide data and information to the people. Available online or over the phone for at least 90 days.
IBM Watson Assistant for Citizen based on IBM Public Cloud understands and responds to frequently asked questions about Covid-19, using Watson Assistant, IBM Research's natural language processing capabilities and Watson Discovery's advanced enterprise AI search capabilities.
Rob Thomas, head of IBM's data and AI division, said, "The top priority is to help governments and medical institutions use AI to deliver critical information to the public. Under the current circumstances, companies in all other industries should also find ways to communicate digitally with customers and employees, and IBM has effectively responded to the needs of thousands of global companies and institutions over the years by utilizing natural language processing and other advanced AI technologies. This experience is intended to be applied to solve the Covid-19 crisis. AI can serve as a good applicant at this uncertain time," it said.
Watson Assistant for Citizen uses the information provided by the customer to automate responses to Covid-19 related frequently asked questions that come through the phone or text message. Questions such as, 'What are the symptoms of coronavirus 19?' 'How do I clean my house?' and 'What do I do not want to be infected with a virus?'
In addition, customers may work with IBM to customize based on the underlying model and intent to include specific information related to the region and to the members. This allows governments and local governments, hospitals or other medical institutions to customize the solution to include questions related to the area. For example, it could include questions such as, 'How many confirmed people are in our neighborhood?' 'How long will the school be closed?' and 'Where can I get a checkup?'
IBM offers Watson Assistant for Citizen free of charge for at least 90 days and supports initial setup. Initial setup tasks typically take days. The initial solution is available in English and Spanish and can be customized in 13 languages, including Korean.
The English version of Watson Assistant for Citizen utilizes external information, such as guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as currently available data from local information such as school closures, news and documents posted on state Web sites. IBM offers the service across the United States, including New York, California, Georgia, Texas and Arkansas, and also works with agencies around the world including the Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Italy, Poland, Spain and Britain.