[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":313},["ShallowReactive",2],{"slug-how-to-overcome-being-cyberchondriac":3},{"post":4,"relatedPosts":189,"relatedBooks":312},{"id":5,"date":6,"date_gmt":7,"guid":8,"modified":10,"modified_gmt":11,"slug":12,"status":13,"type":14,"link":15,"title":16,"content":18,"excerpt":21,"author":23,"featured_media":24,"comment_status":25,"ping_status":25,"sticky":26,"template":27,"format":28,"meta":29,"categories":30,"tags":32,"project_category":43,"contact_email_category":44,"yst_prominent_words":45,"class_list":61,"better_featured_image":79,"acf":124,"yoast_meta":133,"_links":136},21692,"2021-08-05T10:00:00","2021-08-05T08:00:00",{"rendered":9},"http:\u002F\u002Fmedicalfuturist.com\u002F","2021-09-16T10:51:36","2021-09-16T08:51:36","how-to-overcome-being-cyberchondriac","publish","post","https:\u002F\u002Fmedicalfuturist.com\u002Fhow-to-overcome-being-cyberchondriac",{"rendered":17},"How to Overcome Being Cyberchondriac?",{"rendered":19,"protected":20},"\n\u003Cp>According to the \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.psychologytoday.com\u002Fus\u002Fblog\u002Ffulfillment-any-age\u002F201609\u002F5-ways-tell-if-you-have-cyberchondria\">New York State Psychiatric Institute’s\u003C\u002Fa> Emily Doherty-Torstrick and colleagues, \u003Cstrong>cyberchondria refers to “\u003Cem>searching the web excessively for healthcare information\u003C\u002Fem>.” It’s an exaggeration of what about 90% of Americans do ordinarily, which is “\u003Cem>online symptom checking\u003C\u002Fem>.” And while hypochondria was prevalent in previous decades as well, the Internet blew it out of proportions.\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>It is a “side-effect” of the digital health progress. As people are becoming more and more active when it comes to tracking and managing their wellbeing or disease, exaggeration is rampant. As technology progresses, we’ll have much more information on our hands about health and illness. Our ECG sensors, food sensors, sleep trackers, digital tattoos, online algorithms or genetic test results will all give us health data.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>These tools are incredibly useful for prevention. However, as people have no training in how to interpret data and how to manage their own information, the result might be jumping to conclusions too early, misinterpreting information or falsely evaluating data.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Thus, \u003Cstrong>everyone who gets into the world of digital health will become a cyberchondriac to a certain extent. So the real question is not how to avoid becoming a cyberchondriac, as we’ll all get into it, but, how we can overcome anxiety as fast as possible and use our newfound knowledge for something good.\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n\u003Ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"How To Overcome Being Cyberchondriac? - The Medical Futurist\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.youtube.com\u002Fembed\u002Fb7j27glXe9g?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen>\u003C\u002Fiframe>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>The fight against our inner cyberchondriac\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Psychology Today collected \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.psychologytoday.com\u002Fus\u002Fblog\u002Ffulfillment-any-age\u002F201609\u002F5-ways-tell-if-you-have-cyberchondria\">here\u003C\u002Fa> the signs that could tell you the difference between being a cyberchondriac or just worried about your health. So, for example, start to apply the below recommendations if you check online for symptom information from up to 1 to 3 hours per day and\u002For you fear you have several different diseases.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>1) Recognize that the internet is a double-edged sword\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>It could be incredibly helpful in finding doctors or communities, but it could also give you a very misleading picture if you try to self-diagnose. So be informed, track your health, note the changes and get information on how to use technologies to your advantage. Importantly, don’t leave out your doctor, be a partner, let’s figure it out together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>2) If you google your symptoms, use trusted sources\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>We collected these in this article, \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fmedicalfuturist.com\u002Ftop-10-online-medical-resources\" target=\"_blank\">Top 10 Online Medical Resources For The Patients Of The Future\u003C\u002Fa>. Among the many amazing sources out there, these are my top 10 choices when it comes to finding reliable medical and health information online. From medical websites to online toolkits, my favourites include \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.medpagetoday.com\u002F\">MedPage Today\u003C\u002Fa>, \u003Ca href=\"http:\u002F\u002Fhealthline.com\u002F\">Healthline\u003C\u002Fa>, \u003Ca href=\"http:\u002F\u002Fmedgadget.com\u002F\">Medgadget\u003C\u002Fa>, \u003Ca href=\"http:\u002F\u002Fwebmd.com\u002F\">WebMD\u003C\u002Fa>, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.news-medical.net\u002F\">https:\u002F\u002Fwww.news-medical.net\u003C\u002Fa> – and definitely not \u003Ca href=\"http:\u002F\u002Fhowamidying.com\">howamidying.com\u003C\u002Fa>. If you go off-road, you’ll most definitely find websites or forums that will support your narrative. So stay objective.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>3)\u003C\u002Fstrong> And finally, \u003Cstrong>try to calm yourself\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>When Apple’s first smartphone appeared, people said we will not talk to each other anymore. Ultimately the opposite happened,  but we needed a decade of learning how to use smartphones well (if we did eventually). This learning curve might be longer in terms of our health. Within The Medical Futurist team, we have a guiding philosophical principle called Occam’s razor. It says: the most straightforward solution always tends to be the right one. Apply it when you have a headache while your smartphone says you’re dying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full wp-image-21695\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"870\" height=\"583\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002FHypochondria.jpg\" alt=\"cyberchondriac\" class=\"wp-image-21695\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002FHypochondria.jpg 870w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002FHypochondria-768x515.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002FHypochondria-512x343.jpg 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px\" \u002F>\u003Cfigcaption>Source: longreads.com\u003C\u002Ffigcaption>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>I was worried to \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fmedicalfuturist.com\u002Fatlas-biomed-genetic-test-review\" target=\"_blank\">do a genetic test\u003C\u002Fa>. I was reluctant to know what kind of deadly diseases lurk around the corner. But eventually, I did, and I got to be aware of the fact that I inherited susceptibility to skin cancer and thrombosis. This information presents a solution, rather than a problem. From now on, I can take better care of myself, knowing these – and keep all these in mind with my primary care physician.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Chr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\u002F>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>As digital health makes an awful amount of data accessible, we all feel the anxiety that comes with it. But only in the beginning. Eventually, we will learn to make informed decisions by weighing our options. \u003C\u002Fstrong>A little fear is a small price for being informed and being able to make educated decisions about our health.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cdiv style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\n\n\n\u003Ctable style=\"width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; background-color: #eee; border-top: 4px solid #444;\" cellpadding=\"10px\">\n\u003Ctbody>\n\u003Ctr>\n\u003Ctd style=\"width: 100%;\">\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>At The Medical Futurist, we are building a community for making a bold vision about the future of healthcare reality today.\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ciframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.youtube.com\u002Fembed\u002FFIbMejImnxs\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\">\u003C\u002Fiframe>\n\u003Cp>If you’d like to support this mission, we invite you to \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.patreon.com\u002Fthemedicalfuturist\">join The Medical Futurist Patreon Community\u003C\u002Fa>. A community of empowered patients, future-oriented healthcare professionals, concerned health policymakers, sensible health tech developers, and enthusiastic medical students. If there were ever a time to join us, it is now. Every contribution, however big or small, powers our research and sustains our future.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.patreon.com\u002Fthemedicalfuturist\">\u003Cstrong style=\"background-color: #e71d3299; color: #000;\">Click here to support The Medical Futurist from as little as $3\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fa> – it only takes a minute. Thank you.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Ftd>\n\u003C\u002Ftr>\n\u003C\u002Ftbody>\n\u003C\u002Ftable>\n\u003Cp> \u003C\u002Fp>\n",false,{"rendered":22,"protected":20},"\u003Cp>According to the New York State Psychiatric Institute’s Emily Doherty-Torstrick and colleagues, cyberchondria refers to “searching the web excessively for healthcare information.” It’s an exaggeration […]\u003C\u002Fp>\n",6,21696,"closed",true,"","standard",{"_acf_changed":20,"footnotes":27},[31],491,[33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42],1031,1032,1033,1034,1035,204,207,266,272,425,[],[],[46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59,60],1693,1721,1723,1727,1883,1979,1571,2071,1583,2581,1617,3471,1681,4095,1683,[62,14,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,70,71,72,73,74,75,76,77,78],"post-21692","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-empowered-patients","tag-cyberchondriac","tag-cyberchondria","tag-hypochondria","tag-health-app","tag-online-diagnosis","tag-diagnosis","tag-digital-health","tag-google-2","tag-health-20","tag-technology-2",{"id":24,"alt_text":80,"caption":27,"description":81,"media_type":82,"media_details":83,"post":5,"source_url":123},"TMF, cyberchondriac","TMF, laptop, man, woman, ","image",{"width":84,"height":85,"file":86,"sizes":87,"image_meta":120},870,489,"2018\u002F08\u002F031_cyberchondriacs.png",{"medium":88,"large":94,"thumbnail":99,"medium_large":103,"large_old_512x288":104,"thumbnail_old_150x150":109,"medium_old_370x208":111,"medium_large_old_768x432":114,"large_old_512x288_old_512x288":117},{"file":89,"width":90,"height":91,"mime-type":92,"source_url":93},"031_cyberchondriacs-370x208.png",370,208,"image\u002Fpng","https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002F031_cyberchondriacs-370x208.png",{"file":95,"width":96,"height":97,"mime-type":92,"source_url":98},"031_cyberchondriacs-768x432.png",768,432,"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002F031_cyberchondriacs-768x432.png",{"file":100,"width":101,"height":101,"mime-type":92,"source_url":102},"031_cyberchondriacs-150x150.png",150,"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002F031_cyberchondriacs-150x150.png",{"file":95,"width":96,"height":97,"mime-type":92,"source_url":98},{"file":105,"width":106,"height":107,"mime-type":92,"source_url":108},"031_cyberchondriacs-512x288.png",512,288,"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002F031_cyberchondriacs-512x288.png",{"file":100,"width":110,"height":110,"mime-type":92,"source_url":102},"150",{"file":89,"width":112,"height":113,"mime-type":92,"source_url":93},"370","208",{"file":95,"width":115,"height":116,"mime-type":92,"source_url":98},"768","432",{"file":105,"width":118,"height":119,"mime-type":92,"source_url":108},"512","288",{"aperture":121,"credit":27,"camera":27,"caption":27,"created_timestamp":121,"copyright":27,"focal_length":121,"iso":121,"shutter_speed":121,"title":27,"orientation":121,"keywords":122},"0",[],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002F031_cyberchondriacs.png",{"related_posts":125,"related_posts_footer":129,"subtitle":27,"cta_type":27,"cta_color":27,"related_books":20},[126,127,128],16084,21494,13949,[130,131,132],13843,17980,15467,{"yoast_wpseo_title":134,"yoast_wpseo_metadesc":135,"yoast_wpseo_canonical":15},"How to Overcome Being Cyberchondriac? - The Medical Futurist","As today online diagnosis is only a click away, the danger of becoming too anxious about diseases is real. Here’s how you can overcome being cyberchondriac.",{"self":137,"collection":143,"about":146,"author":149,"replies":152,"version-history":155,"predecessor-version":159,"wp:featuredmedia":163,"wp:attachment":166,"wp:term":169,"curies":185},[138],{"href":139,"targetHints":140},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fposts\u002F21692",{"allow":141},[142],"GET",[144],{"href":145},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fposts",[147],{"href":148},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Ftypes\u002Fpost",[150],{"embeddable":26,"href":151},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fusers\u002F6",[153],{"embeddable":26,"href":154},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fcomments?post=21692",[156],{"count":157,"href":158},7,"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fposts\u002F21692\u002Frevisions",[160],{"id":161,"href":162},36115,"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fposts\u002F21692\u002Frevisions\u002F36115",[164],{"embeddable":26,"href":165},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fmedia\u002F21696",[167],{"href":168},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fmedia?parent=21692",[170,173,176,179,182],{"taxonomy":171,"embeddable":26,"href":172},"category","https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fcategories?post=21692",{"taxonomy":174,"embeddable":26,"href":175},"post_tag","https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Ftags?post=21692",{"taxonomy":177,"embeddable":26,"href":178},"project_category","https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fproject_category?post=21692",{"taxonomy":180,"embeddable":26,"href":181},"contact_email_category","https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fcontact_email_category?post=21692",{"taxonomy":183,"embeddable":26,"href":184},"yst_prominent_words","https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fyst_prominent_words?post=21692",[186],{"name":187,"href":188,"templated":26},"wp","https:\u002F\u002Fapi.w.org\u002F{rel}",[190],{"id":132,"date":191,"date_gmt":192,"guid":193,"modified":195,"modified_gmt":196,"slug":197,"status":13,"type":14,"link":198,"title":199,"content":201,"excerpt":203,"author":23,"featured_media":205,"comment_status":25,"ping_status":25,"sticky":26,"template":27,"format":28,"meta":206,"categories":207,"tags":211,"project_category":220,"contact_email_category":221,"yst_prominent_words":222,"class_list":224,"better_featured_image":237,"acf":266,"yoast_meta":267,"_links":270},"2017-04-13T18:00:05","2017-04-13T16:00:05",{"rendered":194},"http:\u002F\u002Fmedicalfuturist.com\u002F?p=15467","2022-05-03T14:15:17","2022-05-03T12:15:17","chatbots-health-assistants","https:\u002F\u002Fmedicalfuturist.com\u002Fchatbots-health-assistants",{"rendered":200},"Chatbots Will Serve As Health Assistants",{"rendered":202,"protected":20},"\n\u003Ctable style=\"width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; background-color: #eee; border-top: 4px solid #444;\" cellpadding=\"5px\">\n\u003Ctbody>\n\u003Ctr>\n\u003Ctd style=\"width: 100%;\">\n\u003Cp style=\"color: #555;font-size: 12px;line-height: 14px\">THIS ARTICLE HAS NOT BEEN UPDATED SINCE 2017. THE INFORMATION SHARED IN THE ARTICLE WAS ACCURATE AT THE TIME OF ITS PUBLICATION, BUT IT MAY BE OUT OF DATE NOW. \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fmedicalfuturist.com\u002Fmagazine\">BROWSE OUR LATEST ARTICLES HERE\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Ftd>\n\u003C\u002Ftr>\u003C\u002Ftbody>\u003C\u002Ftable>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Chatbots, intelligent personal assistants, artificial intelligence supported messaging apps or voice-controlled bots are forecasted to replace simple messaging apps soon. In healthcare, they could take off the burden on medical professionals regarding easily diagnosable health concerns or quickly solvable health management issues. Here is the evolution of bots as health assistants.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003C!--more-->\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>Imagined conversation with a health chatbot \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\u003Cli>\u003Cem>Hi Viola, how can I help you? \u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli>\u003Cem>I have a mild fever, headache, I feel dizzy. What could it be?\u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli>\u003Cem>What is your temperature at the moment?\u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli>\u003Cem>38C.\u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli>\u003Cem>For how long have you been feeling the headache? \u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli>\u003Cem>In the last 2-3 hours.\u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli>\u003Cem>Do you have any other symptoms? \u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli>\u003Cem>No, I don’t.\u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli>\u003Cem>You had the exact same symptoms last week and the week before. This time, I recommend you to visit your GP. Let me call your doctor’s office and make you an appointment that fits your schedule!\u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003C\u002Ful>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>With the appearance of intelligent personal assistants (IPA) supported by machine learning such as Siri on iOS or Alexa for Amazon, the above scene does not sound like science fiction anymore. If we also consider how Cognitoys support the cognitive development of small children with the help of AI in a fun and gentle way, personal health assistants on our phones suddenly become definite responses for certain needs. They can make our lives more comfortable and they could pay attention to our very personal wishes through constant learning – which might also have some downsides.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>Half a million people professed their love for Siri\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Remember the movie entitled \u003Cem>Her\u003C\u002Fem>? The main protagonist, Joaquin Phoenix falls completely in love with the voice of a digital assistant capable of learning at an astonishing pace as well as fulfilling his every need. Luckily, we are not here yet. But according to a recent report in the \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Furldefense.proofpoint.com\u002Fv2\u002Furl?u=https-3A__www.newscientist.com_article_mg23231045-2D700-2Dhow-2Dwe-2Dfell-2Din-2Dlove-2Dwith-2Dour-2Dvoiceactivated-2Dhome-2Dassistants_&d=DwMFAg&c=RAhzPLrCAq19eJdrcQiUVEwFYoMRqGDAXQ_puw5tYjg&r=tg4MUjJUSXB9wyKvQPiVMGkbqK7vQ5O-E3RpyohTek0&m=vxCvIT8IMSUDbFsYKpxKTAEiZqlSAj6qjKwgfDY9u34&s=iJyqNGTs6VAoV8DtCvUZy0ZTpcA6fhb_vsqjueTbw7o&e=\">New Scientist\u003C\u002Fa>, hundreds of thousands of people say ‘Good morning’ to Alexa every day, half a million people have professed their love for it, and more than 250,000 have proposed marriage to it. So we have to be careful, and already have to analyze the complicated relationship humans have with intelligent machines and all already existing forms of artificial intelligence. Preferably before they overflow our life. So let’s start with digital health chatbots.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"870\" height=\"373\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Fchat-bot-designers_bots-as-health-assistants.jpeg\" alt=\"Chat-Bot-Designers_Bots as Health Assistants\" class=\"wp-image-15468\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Fchat-bot-designers_bots-as-health-assistants.jpeg 870w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Fchat-bot-designers_bots-as-health-assistants-768x329.jpeg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Fchat-bot-designers_bots-as-health-assistants-512x220.jpeg 512w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Fchat-bot-designers_bots-as-health-assistants-458x196.jpeg 458w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px\" \u002F>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>Chatbots are the future of messaging\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Chatbots are already everywhere. Okay-okay, you are right, not everywhere, but sometimes the supply cannot even appease the huge demand. For example, around the holidays in December 2016, Amazon Echo was such a ‘bestseller’ that the e-commerce giant’s main website and the app have been sold out of the Echo voice-controlled speaker for weeks. These bots talk to their users through speakers, and their built-in microphones hear from across a room. \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.washingtonpost.com\u002Fnews\u002Finnovations\u002Fwp\u002F2017\u002F01\u002F06\u002Fwhy-2017-is-the-year-of-the-bot\u002F?utm_term=.299193ab774a\">When Echo hears the name “Alexa,” its LED ring lights up\u003C\u002Fa> in the direction of the user to acknowledge that it is listening. It answers questions, plays music, orders Amazon products and tells jokes. Mind-blowing! Obviously, there was a huge interest, which in turn shows a clear trend: chatbots will take over the place of messaging applications in many areas and they will also hit such market segments, which were previously unimaginable. Such as healthcare.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Digital personal assistants in the form of chatbots offer a lot more than simple messaging apps. They can be voice-controlled, which makes it possible to use them also when your hands are full with laundry or you don’t want to put down your crying kiddo. They come in handy when you want to play music, order food or take notes. As they are voice-controlled, I can imagine that after a while they will be part of the dynamics of family communication.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"870\" height=\"435\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Ffuture-of-messaging_bots-as-health-assistants.png\" alt=\"Future of Messaging_Bots As Health Assistants\" class=\"wp-image-15469\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Ffuture-of-messaging_bots-as-health-assistants.png 870w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Ffuture-of-messaging_bots-as-health-assistants-768x384.png 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Ffuture-of-messaging_bots-as-health-assistants-512x256.png 512w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Ffuture-of-messaging_bots-as-health-assistants-458x229.png 458w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px\" \u002F>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>Why will health chatbots become a success story?\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>There are so many simple medical questions out there which do not require the full attention of a physician, but letting them remain unanswered leaves the concerned people nervous, confused and clueless. Imagine a young mother with a two weeks old baby without any experience. She will bombard you with tons of questions if you ask her how she and the baby is. What is the temperature of a baby that requires intervention? What is the ideal temperature for the baby’s bath? How much sleep is enough? Is it better to leave a sock on the little one’s hands for a while after being born or not?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>These are all relevant questions, but they usually do not need a response from a physician. A health visitor might be a better choice, but the young mother does not always have that possibility. Moreover, doing Google searches to find the right answers is also challenging as most patients do not know how to assess the quality of information they find online. Plus the Internet is full of fake news and misleading sites that want to sell something.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"870\" height=\"580\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Fhealth-app-solutions_bots-as-health-assistants.jpg\" alt=\"health-app-solutions_bots as health assistants\" class=\"wp-image-15472\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Fhealth-app-solutions_bots-as-health-assistants.jpg 870w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Fhealth-app-solutions_bots-as-health-assistants-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Fhealth-app-solutions_bots-as-health-assistants-512x341.jpg 512w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Fhealth-app-solutions_bots-as-health-assistants-375x250.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px\" \u002F>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>A more expanded primary care service cannot and should not fill this gap. Patients should not leave from work, travel to the GP’s office just in order to get a 10 seconds response for every simple question. At the same time, no symptom checker website can help in a reliable way, as they are not personalized enough or not driven by algorithms smart enough. An instant messaging health app cannot fill this gap effectively either, as we cannot expect that whenever we have questions, there is a physician available somewhere in the universe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>The solution is a digital health chatbot constantly supported and gradually taught by physicians.\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>Where does the development of digital assistants and intelligent chatbots stand at the moment?\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Since the introduction of Siri, Apple’s voice assistant and ‘knowledge navigator’ in 2011, every tech giant came up with its own version. Just think about Microsoft’s Office Assistant and later Cortana, Google’s Google Home and Google Now or Amazon’s Alexa or Evi. Their evolution is a constant factor and they all ‘possess’ a certain personality with their own names – well, \u003Ca href=\"http:\u002F\u002Fwww.theverge.com\u002F2016\u002F5\u002F18\u002F11672938\u002Fgoogle-assistant-chatbot-virtual-assistant-io-2016\">except perhaps Google’s assistant\u003C\u002Fa>. The independent, non-profit research center, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.sri.com\u002Fabout\">SRI International\u003C\u002Fa>, the inventor of Siri is working on \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.washingtonpost.com\u002Fnews\u002Finnovations\u002Fwp\u002F2016\u002F09\u002F30\u002Fsiri-answers-your-questions-this-bot-will-understand-your-emotions\u002F?utm_term=.c2011432d009\">how to make the conversations with this digital platform more ‘human-like’\u003C\u002Fa> and how such machines might get a clue about the emotional background of human conversationalists.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"870\" height=\"580\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Ffuture-of-messaging_bots-as-health-assistants.jpg\" alt=\"Future of Messaging_Bots As Health Assistants\" class=\"wp-image-15471\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Ffuture-of-messaging_bots-as-health-assistants.jpg 870w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Ffuture-of-messaging_bots-as-health-assistants-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Ffuture-of-messaging_bots-as-health-assistants-512x341.jpg 512w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Ffuture-of-messaging_bots-as-health-assistants-375x250.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px\" \u002F>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The development obviously goes in the direction of making chatbot conversations more and more realistic, but we are definitely not there yet. Low-capacity AI such as \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.fastcodesign.com\u002F3069012\u002Fits-time-to-treat-siri-alexa-and-google-assistant-like-the-toddlers-they-are\">these digital assistants is rather in their toddler phase\u003C\u002Fa>. They are learning from the world around them by watching and listening, while they respond with their already existing knowledge repeating our prejudices and bias. And as you cannot expect a toddler to give you advice about your divorce, you cannot expect empathy from a digital assistant – not yet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>However, I’m always very curious to test where technology stands, so I did it with chatbots and digital assistants as well. I can surely say we are not there yet. I talked with \u003Ca href=\".%20https:\u002Fwww.chatbots.org\u002Fchatterbot\u002Feugene_goostman\u002F\">chatbot Eugene\u003C\u002Fa> when \u003Ca href=\"http:\u002F\u002Fnewatlas.com\u002Feugene-goostman-turing-test\u002F32453\u002F\">they claimed it passed the Turing test\u003C\u002Fa>, although it didn’t. In my experience, even though I knew I was talking to a bot, it took the time to catch it making mistakes and losing the image of being a human being.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"870\" height=\"303\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Feugene-goostman_bots-as-health-assistants.jpg\" alt=\"Eugene Goostman_Bots as Health Assistants\" class=\"wp-image-15473\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Feugene-goostman_bots-as-health-assistants.jpg 870w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Feugene-goostman_bots-as-health-assistants-768x267.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Feugene-goostman_bots-as-health-assistants-512x178.jpg 512w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Feugene-goostman_bots-as-health-assistants-458x160.jpg 458w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px\" \u002F>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>Digital assistants in healthcare\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The need for digital personal assistants and chatbots in healthcare is obvious and not new at all. The first \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fchatbotsmagazine.com\u002Ftop-useful-chatbots-for-health-c1e5382d057d\">“operative” bot in the healthcare sphere dates back\u003C\u002Fa> to 50 years ago. \u003Cu>\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fen.wikipedia.org\u002Fwiki\u002FELIZA\">Eliza \u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fu>was created to mimic a Rogerian psychologist that is a therapist who asks questions to the patient simply by rearranging what the patient himself said. Intelligent conversation is only emulated, allowing the chatbot to have some success in those days when AI was just something seen in the sci-fi novels.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Currently, there are already certain medical fields, where start-ups and companies are offering intelligent personal assistants. For the visually impaired, Horus, \u003Ca href=\"http:\u002F\u002Fwww.orcam.com\u002F\">OrCam\u003C\u002Fa>, \u003Ca href=\"http:\u002F\u002Fbemyeyes.com\u002F\">BeMyEyes\u003C\u002Fa>, and \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Faira.io\u002F\">Aira\u003C\u002Fa> all offer their solutions in order to create the possibility to live a more independent life. They are using various algorithms for describing the environment to the user, read out text, recognize faces and objects such as supermarket products or banknotes, or notify about obstacles. These algorithms are all able to learn over time. And that’s just the beginning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"870\" height=\"465\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Feliza_bots-as-health-assistants.png\" alt=\"Eliza_Bots As Health Assistants\" class=\"wp-image-15474\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Feliza_bots-as-health-assistants.png 870w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Feliza_bots-as-health-assistants-768x410.png 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Feliza_bots-as-health-assistants-512x274.png 512w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Feliza_bots-as-health-assistants-458x245.png 458w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px\" \u002F>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>Health chatbots are shaping up\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The company, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fkore.ai\u002Fabout-kore\u002F\">Kore.ai\u003C\u002Fa> offers smart bots for healthcare facilities. The digital assistant can connect patients to the right contacts directly, give appointment details or make any changes. It lets the patients easily refill prescriptions or pay bills. It delivers lab, test or procedure outcomes or recommended next steps. \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.safeinbreastfeeding.com\u002Fsafedrugbot-chatbot-medical-assistant\u002F\">Safedrugbot\u003C\u002Fa> embodies a chat messaging service that offers assistant-like support to health professionals, doctors who need appropriate information about the use of drugs during breastfeeding. Izzy helps women track their period and serves as a birth control pill reminder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Bots like \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.messenger.com\u002Ft\u002F109653792416142\">HealthTap\u003C\u002Fa> or \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.messenger.com\u002Ft\u002FYourDotMD\">Your.Md\u003C\u002Fa> aim to help patients find a solution to the most common symptoms through AI. However, a chatbot never replaces an experienced doctor. The bot itself exhorts the user to book an appointment with a doctor for a diagnosis, and eventually for the prescription of a therapy. \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.messenger.com\u002Ft\u002F322745644732100\">Florence\u003C\u002Fa> might be a very useful chatbot for older patients. It is basically a “personal nurse,” and “she” can remind patients to take their pills. You just write the name of the medicine in chat, the number of times a day you must take it and at what time. Then, Florence sends you a message in chat every time you must take the pill.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Some institutions already recognize the potential in chatbots for patients and their services alike. The UK’s \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.engadget.com\u002F2017\u002F01\u002F05\u002Fnhs-chatbot\u002F\">National Health Service (NHS) will start to use\u003C\u002Fa> a \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.babylonhealth.com\u002Fhow-it-works\">chatbot\u003C\u002Fa> app for dispensing medical advice for a trial period in 2017, with the aim of reducing the burden on its 111 non-emergency helplines. The NHS is developing the app with \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.babylonhealth.com\u002F\">Babylon Health\u003C\u002Fa>, one of the new breed of paid, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.engadget.com\u002F2016\u002F11\u002F04\u002Fone-consultation-was-enough-to-sell-me-on-online-doctors\u002F\">doctor-on-demand services\u003C\u002Fa>.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n\u003Ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Florence – Your health assistant\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.youtube.com\u002Fembed\u002FY8xxglM083s?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen>\u003C\u002Fiframe>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>The way forward\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Healthcare chatbots will spread around in many areas of healthcare. In February 2017, \u003Ca href=\"http:\u002F\u002Fwww.merck.com\u002Fabout\u002Ffeatured-stories\u002Fmerck-amazon.html\">Merck announced\u003C\u002Fa> it \u003Ca href=\"http:\u002F\u002Fwww.healthline.com\u002Fdiabetesmine\u002Ftalking-diabetes-tech-alexa#1\">will sponsor an open innovation challenge\u003C\u002Fa> in conjunction with Amazon Web Services and New York-based innovation consultancy Luminary Labs. The goal: a call to entrepreneurs, techies, and industry types to create open solutions for these voice-tech tools to help people with chronic conditions. The first one is diabetes: the so-called \u003Ca href=\"http:\u002F\u002Fwww.alexadiabeteschallenge.com\u002F\">Alexa Diabetes Challenge\u003C\u002Fa> launches in April and will concentrate on type 2 diabetes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>As it is highlighted in the above examples, digital health assistants in the form of chatbots are already able to answer basic questions about health management. In the future, this function will get even better as it will be constantly evaluated and it will learn from its own mistakes. Moreover, not only one chatbot will learn from the given mistake, but the entire fleet of chatbots in that given service. As these intelligent personal assistants process new information very fast, it will follow-up and learn when to direct the patient to a physician’s attention or call for help itself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>In the future, we will be able to share the data we measure about our health and the data in our medical records with these digital personal assistants, so it can help make the wisest decisions. Maybe, they will also be able to detect certain medical conditions based only on our voices. There is already extensive research going on concerning \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fmedicalfuturist.com\u002Fvocal-biomarkers-new-opportunities-prevention\u002F\">vocal biomarkers and their use in healthcare\u003C\u002Fa>. And I’m sure software developers and tech companies will recognize the huge potential for the use of gamification in healthcare chatbots as well. For example, if you could collect points for eating healthy food or doing some sports and then you could receive certain rewards, patients would be more motivated to live healthier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"870\" height=\"581\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Fai-chat-bots-as-health-assistants.jpeg\" alt=\"AI Chat Bots As Health Assistants\" class=\"wp-image-15477\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Fai-chat-bots-as-health-assistants.jpeg 870w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Fai-chat-bots-as-health-assistants-768x513.jpeg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Fai-chat-bots-as-health-assistants-512x342.jpeg 512w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Fai-chat-bots-as-health-assistants-374x250.jpeg 374w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px\" \u002F>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>Where are the boundaries of our privacy and our control over technology?\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Healthcare chatbots and smart tech assistants, in general, raise serious ethical questions about the nature of humanity as well as its connection to technology. How much should these artificial intelligence-supported platforms know about us? Who else could have access to our private and very personal health information? How could we defend ourselves in this vulnerable situation? As it is often stressed, any device can be hacked, and I certainly do not want unauthorized people to have access to my data. How can we safeguard the inconceivably huge amount of data we generate through smart devices such as chatbots in the future?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The other area of concern is where and how to find the power balance between technology and humanity. Who will have the control? Can we ensure that \u003Ca href=\"http:\u002F\u002Fwww.washingtonpost.com\u002Fsf\u002Fnational\u002F2015\u002F12\u002F27\u002Faianxiety\u002F?tid=a_inl&utm_term=.dd9130342d5d\">artificial intelligence remains confined in our control mechanisms or do we let an uncontrollable ghost out\u003C\u002Fa>? These are very difficult and extremely relevant questions, which need careful consideration from decision-makers, powerful tech companies, researchers as well as average people on the street. As technological development will not slow down, we have to catch up with the innovation happening around us and give reasonable responses in order to ensure our humanity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"870\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Frobot_chatbots-as-health-assistants.jpg\" alt=\"Robot_Chatbots As Health Assistants\" class=\"wp-image-15476\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Frobot_chatbots-as-health-assistants.jpg 870w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Frobot_chatbots-as-health-assistants-768x508.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Frobot_chatbots-as-health-assistants-512x339.jpg 512w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Frobot_chatbots-as-health-assistants-378x250.jpg 378w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px\" \u002F>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>So, bots are coming even if you are reluctant to embrace them. And the first time you have a conversation with a bot that is wise, humorous and learns your preferences in seconds, you will be amazed how hard it is to resent them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\u003Cp>[subscribe image=”false” type=”article-horizontal”]Subscribe to\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ch2>\u003Cb>The Medical Futurist℠ Newsletter\u003C\u002Fb>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\u003Cul>\n\u003Cli>News shaping the future of healthcare\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>Advice on taking charge of your health\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>Reviews of the latest health technology\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\u003Cp>[\u002Fsubscribe]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ctable style=\"width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; background-color: #eee; border-top: 4px solid #444;\" cellpadding=\"10px\">\n\u003Ctbody>\n\u003Ctr>\n\u003Ctd style=\"width: 100%;\">\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>At The Medical Futurist, we are building a community for making a bold vision about the future of healthcare reality today.\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ciframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.youtube.com\u002Fembed\u002FFIbMejImnxs\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\">\u003C\u002Fiframe>\n\u003Cp>If you’d like to support this mission, we invite you to \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.patreon.com\u002Fthemedicalfuturist\">join The Medical Futurist Patreon Community\u003C\u002Fa>. A community of empowered patients, future-oriented healthcare professionals, concerned health policymakers, sensible health tech developers, and enthusiastic medical students. If there were ever a time to join us, it is now. Every contribution, however big or small, powers our research and sustains our future.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.patreon.com\u002Fthemedicalfuturist\">\u003Cstrong style=\"background-color: #e71d3299; color: #000;\">Click here to support The Medical Futurist from as little as $3\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fa> – it only takes a minute. Thank you.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Ftd>\n\u003C\u002Ftr>\n\u003C\u002Ftbody>\n\u003C\u002Ftable>\n\u003Cp> \u003C\u002Fp>\n",{"rendered":204,"protected":20},"\u003Cp>Chatbots, intelligent personal assistants, artificial intelligence supported messaging apps or voice controlled bots are forecasted to replace simple messaging apps soon. In healthcare, they could take off the burden on medical professionals regarding easily diagnosable health concerns or quickly solvable health management issues. Here is the evolution of bots as health assistants.\u003C\u002Fp>\n",15475,{"_acf_changed":20,"footnotes":27},[208,209,210],504,521,494,[212,213,214,215,216,217,218,39,219],289,519,670,134,671,144,168,246,[],[],[60,223,50,52,56,58],1715,[225,14,63,64,65,66,67,226,227,228,229,230,231,232,233,234,235,75,236],"post-15467","category-artificial-intelligence","category-future-medicine","category-telemedicine","tag-innovation","tag-gc4","tag-intelligent-personal-assistant","tag-ai","tag-machine-learning","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-chatbot","tag-future",{"id":205,"alt_text":238,"caption":27,"description":27,"media_type":82,"media_details":239,"post":132,"source_url":265},"Chatbots_Bots As Health Assistants_2",{"width":84,"height":240,"file":241,"sizes":242,"image_meta":263},227,"2017\u002F04\u002Fchatbots_bots-as-health-assistants_2.jpg",{"medium":243,"large":247,"thumbnail":251,"medium_large":254,"large_old_512x134":255,"medium_old_458x119":258},{"file":244,"width":90,"height":91,"mime-type":245,"source_url":246},"chatbots_bots-as-health-assistants_2-370x208.jpg","image\u002Fjpeg","https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Fchatbots_bots-as-health-assistants_2-370x208.jpg",{"file":248,"width":96,"height":249,"mime-type":245,"source_url":250},"chatbots_bots-as-health-assistants_2-768x200.jpg",200,"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Fchatbots_bots-as-health-assistants_2-768x200.jpg",{"file":252,"width":101,"height":101,"mime-type":245,"source_url":253},"chatbots_bots-as-health-assistants_2-150x150.jpg","https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Fchatbots_bots-as-health-assistants_2-150x150.jpg",{"file":248,"width":96,"height":249,"mime-type":245,"source_url":250},{"file":256,"width":106,"height":215,"mime-type":245,"source_url":257},"chatbots_bots-as-health-assistants_2-512x134.jpg","https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Fchatbots_bots-as-health-assistants_2-512x134.jpg",{"file":259,"width":260,"height":261,"mime-type":245,"source_url":262},"chatbots_bots-as-health-assistants_2-458x119.jpg",458,119,"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Fchatbots_bots-as-health-assistants_2-458x119.jpg",{"aperture":121,"credit":27,"camera":27,"caption":27,"created_timestamp":121,"copyright":27,"focal_length":121,"iso":121,"shutter_speed":121,"title":27,"orientation":121,"keywords":264},[],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2017\u002F04\u002Fchatbots_bots-as-health-assistants_2.jpg",{"cta_type":27,"cta_color":27,"subtitle":27,"related_books":20,"related_posts_footer":20,"related_posts":20},{"yoast_wpseo_title":268,"yoast_wpseo_metadesc":269,"yoast_wpseo_canonical":198},"Chatbots Will Serve As Health Assistants - The Medical Futurist","Chatbots started to appear in healthcare as intelligent personal assistants for patients as well as medical professionals.",{"self":271,"collection":276,"about":278,"author":280,"replies":282,"version-history":285,"predecessor-version":289,"wp:featuredmedia":293,"wp:attachment":296,"wp:term":299,"curies":310},[272],{"href":273,"targetHints":274},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fposts\u002F15467",{"allow":275},[142],[277],{"href":145},[279],{"href":148},[281],{"embeddable":26,"href":151},[283],{"embeddable":26,"href":284},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fcomments?post=15467",[286],{"count":287,"href":288},29,"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fposts\u002F15467\u002Frevisions",[290],{"id":291,"href":292},43665,"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fposts\u002F15467\u002Frevisions\u002F43665",[294],{"embeddable":26,"href":295},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fmedia\u002F15475",[297],{"href":298},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fmedia?parent=15467",[300,302,304,306,308],{"taxonomy":171,"embeddable":26,"href":301},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fcategories?post=15467",{"taxonomy":174,"embeddable":26,"href":303},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Ftags?post=15467",{"taxonomy":177,"embeddable":26,"href":305},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fproject_category?post=15467",{"taxonomy":180,"embeddable":26,"href":307},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fcontact_email_category?post=15467",{"taxonomy":183,"embeddable":26,"href":309},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fyst_prominent_words?post=15467",[311],{"name":187,"href":188,"templated":26},[],1789237958522]