Chatbot champion David gives keynote address

David Ireland is one of Australia’s leading researchers in using chatbots – AI-driven computer programs that imitate human conversation – to promote health and wellbeing. He recently discussed his work at the Australian Pain Society Annual Scientific Meeting.

But David wants one thing to be very clear – while AI technology is revolutionising many aspects of our lives, including healthcare, it also comes with unique challenges and risks.

A chatbot for chronic pain

The clinicians and therapists attending the conference were eager to hear about Dolores. Dolores isn’t a person, but one of the chatbots David has created.

The computer program was developed to interact with people who suffer chronic pain. It asks questions such as ‘where is the pain?’ and ‘how long have you had the pain?’, then offers support and education.

One feature that makes Dolores so special is that users can draw how they feel instead of speaking or typing. This helps people who have difficulty describing their pain, such as children and people who are nonverbal, express what they are feeling.

Complex algorithms enable the chatbot to interpret users’ drawings and comment on them.

The future of AI in healthcare

This technology is advancing fast, meaning new innovations are coming to light every day. However, it also means that researchers are constantly encountering, and coming up with solutions for, challenges that arise from the technology.

For example, many new technologies involve generative AI. This type of AI uses big, population-level data and the systems produce conclusions based on statistically expected values. They are not always precise and require a lot of training data.

David’s chatbots use symbolic AI, which means they use logic and rules to connect different concepts and produce conclusions about data. This type of AI is explainable, revisable, and better able to deal with uncertainty.

But David notes that just like humans, no AI system will ever be perfect. And of course, no technology will ever be able to replicate human empathy. While AI is certainly making its mark on the world, it won’t be taking over any time soon.