Conversational Agents (CA) are artificial intelligent software which can simulate a conversation with a user in natural language via auditory or textual methods. They are some of the industry’s newest tools designed to simplify the interaction between humans and computers. From a technological point of view, a CA only represents the natural evolution of question answering system leveraging Natural Language Processing and Understanding. In 2020, tele-health experienced an unprecedented uptake around the globe, with the COVID 19 pandemic acting as a catalyst. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the introduction of virtual healthcare delivery in many countries, it also prompted the rapid development of many other diverse technology-enabled systems and processes for delivering virtual healthcare to patients. One new technology development is the widespread uptake of conversational agents in people’s lives, and these now also have many health applications. Despite the potential benefits of the technology, CA raise many ethical concerns. In this Talk , I discuss ethical concerns of CA in healthcare domains in general and then present a proposal for monitoring the ethical behavior.
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