Within the framework of the celebration of World Health Day, which this year has the motto “My Health, My Right”, the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced the launch of SARAH, a prototype of digital health promoter which incorporates an advanced empathy capacity, powered by generative artificial intelligence (AI).
SARAH, which translates to AI Smart Resource Assistant for Health, marks a milestone in the evolution of AI-assisted health information avatars. This system uses next-generation language models and cutting-edge technology, allowing interactions with users 24 hours a day, in eight different languages, and through any device.
The WHO Digital Health Promoter is designed to offer information on a wide range of health topics, including healthy habits and mental health, with the aim of helping people improve their journey towards optimal health and well-being. The aim is to provide an additional tool that makes it easier for people to exercise their right to health, no matter where they are.
Also known as Sarah, this tool has the ability to help people better understand the risk factors associated with some of the leading causes of death globally, such as cancer, heart disease, lung disease and diabetes. Sarah can provide access to up-to-date information on how to quit smoking, stay active, eat a healthy diet, reduce stress, and more.
AI that helps adopt healthy habits and prevent diseases
“The future of health is digital, and it is a priority for WHO to support countries in harnessing the power of digital technologies for health,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “SARAH offers us a vision of how artificial intelligence could be used in the future to improve access to health information in a more interactive way. “I call on the research community to help us continue to explore how this technology could reduce inequalities and facilitate access to up-to-date and reliable health information.”
Unlike operating through a preset algorithm or fixed script, SARAH now benefits from generative AI, allowing it to deliver more accurate responses in real time, engage in dynamic personalized conversations that more accurately reflect human interactions, and provide empathetic and nuanced responses to users in a non-judgemental environment. The technology is supported by Soul Machines Biological AI.
WHO urges continued research into this new technology to explore its potential public health benefits and better understand the challenges it presents. Although AI has enormous potential to strengthen public health, it also raises important ethical concerns, including equitable access, privacy, security and accuracy, data protection, and bias.
Sarah can provide access to up-to-date information on how to quit smoking, stay active, eat a healthy diet, reduce stress, and more.
Continuous evaluation and refinement, as part of this project, underlines WHO’s commitment to bringing health information closer to the population, maintaining the highest standards of ethics and evidence-based content. Developers, policymakers and healthcare providers must address these ethical and human rights issues when developing and deploying AI to ensure that all people can benefit from it.
The SARAH project strives for continuous learning and development of a prototype that can inspire reliable, responsible and accessible information. Previous versions of SARAH, known under the name Florence, were used to spread critical public health messages during the COVID-19 pandemic, about the virus, vaccines, tobacco use, healthy eating and physical activity. WHO continues to use numerous digital tools and channels to disseminate and amplify health information, including social media, chatbots, channels and text messaging.
Source: World Health Organization (WHO)
