In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, a significant portion of the population lives with limited access to healthcare and medication, resulting in higher vulnerability to transmittable diseases. In an effort to make healthcare more accessible to those most at risk, artificial intelligence company UNITH (ASX: UNT) has been engaged by the Alliance for Public Health (APH) to deploy digital human social workers in 14 European countries.
The partnership aims to provide timely healthcare information and support without being restricted by traditional in-person services that are often inaccessible by patients in remote areas.
Due to recent events in the region, such as the war in Ukraine, waves of refugees fleeing Ukraine have entered into other countries in Eastern Europe. According to 2021 UNAIDS, around 160,000 people were infected with HIV in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, a 48% increase since 2010.
As per the contract awarded by APH, UNITH will deploy artificial intelligence powered digital humans (eSocial Workers) which will be programmed to provide healthcare information as an online point-of-contact. The eSocial Workers are designed to reduce the workload of human social workers by handling general tasks, enabling them to concentrate on more complex medical and social cases.
Deployed through UNITH’s Digital Human platform, the eSocial Workers will draw their information from secure, compliance-approved sources, integrated with ChatGPT technology and embedded into existing social services. Such AI will therefore only provide the same answers that a human would in their place, and not make misinterpretation errors that are more commonly found with open-source AI that trawls the entire internet. More efficient than their human counterparts, these digital humans will be available 24/7 and be able to have multiple conversations at once.
The contract awarded to UNITH is valued at USD $111k (AUD $165k) with the eSocial Worker expected to be deployed by June 2024. Courtesy of the low bandwidth requirements to access the platform, the Digital Human social workers will be accessible from remote locations with limited internet speeds and older devices.
UNITH CEO Idan Schmorak said: “We are delighted to deliver this public healthcare project where digital humans will play a major role in reducing the burden on healthcare workers and their employers, who are often under-resourced.
“Our AI-Powered Digital Humans will provide the same response as healthcare workers, and they will be available around the clock. This is a terrific opportunity to maximise the accessibility of healthcare information while relieving pressure and expenses on the public health system using AI.”
The digital human social workers will offer users access to static information offline, basic information online, and the ability for users to ask questions verbally or by typing. The AI will be launched in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
The Alliance for Public Health (APH) is a professional organisation based in Ukraine that collaborates with key public organisations, the Ministry of Health, and government institutions to combat epidemics such as HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. It strives to reduce the spread of infections and deaths, as well as to minimise the negative impact of epidemics in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
On top of the APH contract win, UNITH has also been engaged by start-up insurance company Ensureing to provide digital human insurance agents for customer support across Ensureing’s website and platforms. The engagement is UNITH’s first in the insurance industry, one which has become ripe for tech advancements in recent years with the popularity of purchasing insurance via online platforms whether it be travel, home, medical or vehicle insurance.
UNITH’s digital humans will perform on behalf of an insurance agent, increasing productivity and reducing staff costs.The initial one-month contract is valued at approximately $10,000 with possibilities to be upgraded to commercial software licence at any time. The virtual assistant will be able to have guided conversations based on Ensureing’s knowledge bank and be used for showcasing the Ensuring platform to prospective clients and investors
With UNITH’s Digital Human platform already equipped to generate conversational AI in more than 60 languages, scaling into other countries is also possible beyond the scope of these new contracts.
Additional healthcare services in other countries would also be possible based on integrations UNITH will build with each respective public health system (medical clinics, doctors, emergency services, etc.)
While working towards the launch of these digital human social workers and insurance agents, UNITH has a bevy of digital humans launching in the months ahead including a range of kiosks in Japan with NVISO and the second (of three) digital humans for a Big 5 Tech company in Europe.
Clara is a Business Reporter for The Sentiment.
Latest posts by Clara Venisha (see all)
- IPO Watch: The Australian Wealth Advisory Group set for ASX entrance - December 15, 2023
- Harris Technology gears up for Christmas as consumer electronics and household tipped to be among most popular purchases - November 27, 2023
- Linius Technologies sprints into the US college sports with automated game highlight technology - November 23, 2023
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.