Research Article
A Conversational Agent for Use in the Identification of Rare Diseases
@INPROCEEDINGS{10.1007/978-3-319-49622-1_15, author={Ana Lambert and Cesar Monta\`{o}ez and Monica Martinez and Marcelo Funes-Gallanzi}, title={A Conversational Agent for Use in the Identification of Rare Diseases}, proceedings={Applications for Future Internet. International Summit, AFI 2016, Puebla, Mexico, May 25-28, 2016, Revised Selected Papers}, proceedings_a={AFI360}, year={2017}, month={1}, keywords={General cognition engines Artificial cognition systems Diagnosis Rare diseases}, doi={10.1007/978-3-319-49622-1_15} }- Ana Lambert
Cesar Montañez
Monica Martinez
Marcelo Funes-Gallanzi
Year: 2017
A Conversational Agent for Use in the Identification of Rare Diseases
AFI360
Springer
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-49622-1_15
Abstract
This paper presents work in progress on implementing a conversational agent, Dr. Rachael, in the form of a virtual caregiver, for use in helping to identify rare diseases. The rationale for the system is grounded in the fact that rare disorders by their very nature are difficult to diagnose unless the caregiver or doctor is familiar with a wide range of these conditions. The conversational agent uses unstructured free-flowing natural language together with a large database of rare disorders, and is easily updatable by human caregivers without any technical expertise. Matching of users’ comments with database entries is performed using a general cognition engine; which is able to understand natural language regardless of specific wording or grammar. In this paper we give a comprehensive background to and an overview of the system, with a focus on aspects pertaining to natural language processing and user interaction. The system is currently only implemented for English.