Session
Round Table - 90 Min
Conversational AI has emerged as a game-changing tool in healthcare, offering innovative solutions to some of the most pressing challenges faced by the industry. This session aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the applications, benefits, and future potential of Conversational AI in the health sector. Today's Consumers demand quick, easy, and convenient digital interactions, even regarding healthcare. Patients are better informed and use digital channels to access help and information. They want to manage their medical information and journey digitally and deserve a flawless experience during every interaction. By allowing patients to schedule appointments and make payments online, conversational AI technology helps healthcare providers keep up with patient expectations. Here we want to shed some light on the potential of Conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI) in low-resource settings, especially in lower-middle-income countries, where access to quality healthcare services is limited. In many parts of the world, particularly in low-resource settings, there is a critical shortage of healthcare professionals and limited infrastructure. These challenges often result in inadequate healthcare access and compromised patient outcomes. However, Conversational AI presents an opportunity to overcome these barriers and deliver high-quality care even in resource-constrained environments. Conversational AI can also play its part in strengthening the primary healthcare setup. Primary healthcare is the first source of interaction for any patient; enabling AI tools there would help ease the process, and since most of these settings have a shortage of healthcare professionals, this will be a huge step in meeting the population's demand.
This will be a hybrid session; the session moderator will be present on-site, and rest of the speakers will be present online . Given the importance of providing healthcare in low resource settings, we hope to draw a good number of people in the roundtable session from the attendees onsite and discuss the opportunities in conversational AI and how the world can benefit from it. We hope to prepare a short paper post the session and circulate it .
Dr. Rajendra Pratap Gupta, Health Parliament - Private Sector - India
Dino Cataldo DELL'ACCIO, CIO, UN Joint Staff Pension Fund.
Mr. Sameer Pujari, Head - Artificial Intelligence, World Health Organization
Shawnna Hoffman, President - Guardrail Technologies
Sabin Dima, Founder & CEO, Humans.ai
Ms. Mevish P. Vaishnav, Digital Health Academy - Academia - India
Dr. Ashish Atreja, MD, MPH, CIO & Chief Digital Health Officer, UC Davis Health
Dr. Olabisi Ogunbase, Maternal + Child Centre. Team Lead & Mentor Quality Improvement Clinic, Lagos. Nigeria.
Dr. Rajendra Pratap Gupta, Health Parliament - Private Sector - India
Dino Cataldo DELL'ACCIO, CIO, UN Joint Staff Pension Fund.
Mr. Sameer Pujari, Head - Artificial Intelligence, World Health Organization
Shawnna Hoffman, President - Guardrail Technologies
Sabin Dima, Founder & CEO, Humans.ai
Dr. Ashish Atreja, MD, MPH, CIO & Chief Digital Health Officer, UC Davis Health, Not-for-profit, USA
Dr. Olabisi Ogunbase, Maternal + Child Centre. Team Lead & Mentor Quality Improvement Clinic, Lagos. Nigeria, Not-for-profit, Africa .
Ms. Mevish P. Vaishnav, Digital Health Academy - Academia - India
3. Good Health and Well-Being
9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
10. Reduced Inequalities
Targets: SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure serve as the foundation for the advancement of digital health technologies. Since digital health is evolving so fast, balancing regulation and innovation becomes crucial. Regulatory frameworks and guidelines ensure the safety, efficacy, and ethical use of digital health technologies. A thriving industry and innovation on ecosystem provide the impetus for regulatory frameworks to keep pace with technological advancements. Simultaneously, well-balanced regulation creates a conducive environment for industry players to innovate responsibly, ensuring patient safety, ethical practices, and sustainable growth. Good Health & Wellbeing are important, and without having access to basic technologies in primary care, we cannot assure good health and well-being. Reduced Inequalities: Health deprivations are the worst form of deprivation and can set a family back by decades. By using technology, we can ensure that routine ailments are treated on time and do not turn into chronic ailments.
Report
Conversational AI in Low-Income & Resource Settings
Date: 11th October 2023
Time: 17.00 – 18.30
Workshop room 9. Room C-2
Session by DC-Digital Health
Key Takeaways
Dr. Rajendra Pratap Gupta ( DC- Digital Health / India)
- He talked about his triple 80A Rule: 80A-80A-80A: 80% of people don't have 'Access' to healthcare; 80% can't 'Afford' healthcare; 80% have 'Acute' illnesses. So, the need for the fourth 'A,' i.e., Artificial Intelligence
- Conversational AI is important to achieve affordable and accessible healthcare.
- Generative AI is based on data; however, we don't have Data (clean data). Conversational AI won't solve problems until we have data.
- Conversational AI Chatbots scored 82% in the MRCGP exam compared to human physicians, who scored 72% - A Study of the results of the five-year questions between 2012-2017.
- AI in isolation will create more Mistrust unless combined with Blockchain (Identity and Reliability)
- We should not get trapped by the private sector agenda -BIG TECH.
- Looking forward to a day when we can use blockchain and AI to use WhatsApp for prescriptions. Unless we touch the lives of people living in LMICs, we will have failed in our duty on Responsible for AI.
- Technology is not a threat to jobs but a big threat to lack of competence. So, upskill and cross-skill—otherwise, not just technology, everything is a threat.
- We need to create a Global Generative AI Healthcare Governance Model.
Mr. Dino Cataldo DELL’ACCIO (UNJPSF / USA)
- Identification of the End User is important- Response needs to be tailored and aligned to the end user's needs.
- Multiple Technologies together will be able to solve the problem - The joint functioning of AI, which is a Probabilistic Technology, and blockchain, which is a Deterministic Technology. It will provide that level of support - certainty of reliability about data.
- Conversational AI needs to be trustable and people-friendly. It must be a mix of top-down and bottom-up approaches to develop this.
- There is a need to consider that this technology can be used for good and bad.
- A criterion must be developed to check its reliability and ensure it is human-centric.
Mr. Sameer Pujari (WHO/ Geneva)
- Focus on People and Not Technology
- Technology has to be understood as an enabler
- In Low-income resource settings, there is a Massive Gap in healthcare providers, So the Role of Conversational AI is critical.
- Technology getting cheaper will create a difference in these areas
- Four areas – Equity, Sustainable Business models, How it benefits the user, how we take it to the user (+1 point)
- We have to be cautiously optimistic and ensure there are appropriate safeguards when working with AI and for the development of the right products.
- A detailed, systematic, and creative approach is required.
- Technology must be adaptable to different countries and be human-centric at all levels.
- Stick to guidelines rather than regulation? The impact of the solution will determine this.
- If you don't regulate, it will cause more damage. There is a massive risk of misappropriation without the right regulations.
- People are more concerned about money than health.
Ms. Shawna Hoffman ( USA)
- AI Chatbot was used to track essential items during COVID-19.
- Reaching the remote and underserved areas needs to be included in the fold.
- AI is in 90 different components; Conversational AI is one of them.
- Conversational AI is consistent.
- Fact-checking Conversational and generative AI is really important.
- It can be a great educational tool. Conversational AI can be customized for local use.
Mr. Sabin Dima ( Romania )
- AI is the greatest tool ever created.
- AI is not able to replace humans, but it helps with some skills
- Data; Data traceable; Ethics -
- AI in healthcare will Democratize Access to healthcare
- The AI model is efficient to encapsulating settings
- We have the technology here; the problem is not of not having the technology. We have to use this technology to research.
- Sending voice messages in the voice of doctors to ensure that patients continue their treatment and not leave it in between. AI can be really helpful in aftercare.
- We have everything; we just need to start doing it now.
- Digital doctors for every village. One mobile phone for every village can be a starter to get everyone in the fold.
Dr. Ashish Atreja (USA)
- Doctors don't give Time to explain.
- We need to Unlock Care with Time and space (Provide care anywhere and don't need physicians)
- Any solution, if validated, can become a global solution
- Democratizing it completely
- Use the model of Hybrid AI (Combine Physician centered care with Patient-centered care)
- Inequity in people, states, organizations
- Digital Divide to Digital Bridge (Leverage Tech to bridge the gap)
- Using technology for the right use cases. - Put it under a scientific and evidence-based lens and demystify conversational AI.
- Optimism should be combined with caution when dealing with AI.
- The onus is on us to put science as the base to demystify healthcare rumours using conversational AI.
- Creating AI models on closed-in sources like textbooks, verified data sets, and not the internet
Dr. Olabisi Ogunbase (Nigeria)
- Use of digital technology for patient engagement.
- Objectives
- Patient notification and information
- Patient Education
- Support System
- Digital Patient Engagement
- Conversational AI can make conversations with end users possible in real Time. Expediting the process of care delivery.
Ms. Mevish Vaishnav (India)
- Analyse conversations and create Generative Health AI
- Starting point of Generative General AI
- Driven by Generative AI, dependent on each other
- Conversational AI will make patients believe that they are heard.
- Forming a global Generative Health AI group will be a melting pot of all healthcare stakeholders.
Rapporteur - Online . Ms. Mevish P. Vaishnav
Rapportuer - Onsite : Ms. Priya Shukla
The session concluded with a call by all the expert panelists for supporting tangible solution at DC - Digital Health
a) We need to create a Global Generative Healthcare Consortium
b) A Generative Healthcare AI Governance Model
b) Develop a project on Generative AI at the Dynamic Coalition, the tangible results of which can be demonstrated at the Next IGF.