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Conversational Agents in Health Care: Expert Interviews to Inform the Definition, Classification, and Conceptual Framework

Martinengo, Laura; Lin, Xiaowen; Jabir, Ahmad Ishqi; Kowatsch, Tobias; Atun, Rifat; Car, Josip; Tudor Car, Lorainne (2023). Conversational Agents in Health Care: Expert Interviews to Inform the Definition, Classification, and Conceptual Framework. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 25:e50767.

Abstract

Background: Conversational agents (CAs), or chatbots, are computer programs that simulate conversations with humans. The use of CAs in health care settings is recent and rapidly increasing, which often translates to poor reporting of the CA development and evaluation processes and unreliable research findings. We developed and published a conceptual framework, designing, developing, evaluating, and implementing a smartphone-delivered, rule-based conversational agent (DISCOVER), consisting of 3 iterative stages of CA design, development, and evaluation and implementation, complemented by 2 cross-cutting themes (user-centered design and data privacy and security). Objective: This study aims to perform in-depth, semistructured interviews with multidisciplinary experts in health care CAs to share their views on the definition and classification of health care CAs and evaluate and validate the DISCOVER conceptual framework. Methods: We conducted one-on-one semistructured interviews via Zoom (Zoom Video Communications) with 12 multidisciplinary CA experts using an interview guide based on our framework. The interviews were audio recorded, transcribed by the research team, and analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: Following participants’ input, we defined CAs as digital interfaces that use natural language to engage in a synchronous dialogue using ≥1 communication modality, such as text, voice, images, or video. CAs were classified by 13 categories: response generation method, input and output modalities, CA purpose, deployment platform, CA development modality, appearance, length of interaction, type of CA-user interaction, dialogue initiation, communication style, CA personality, human support, and type of health care intervention. Experts considered that the conceptual framework could be adapted for artificial intelligence–based CAs. However, despite recent advances in artificial intelligence, including large language models, the technology is not able to ensure safety and reliability in health care settings. Finally, aligned with participants’ feedback, we present an updated iteration of the conceptual framework for health care conversational agents (CHAT) with key considerations for CA design, development, and evaluation and implementation, complemented by 3 cross-cutting themes: ethics, user involvement, and data privacy and security. Conclusions: We present an expanded, validated CHAT and aim at guiding researchers from a variety of backgrounds and with different levels of expertise in the design, development, and evaluation and implementation of rule-based CAs in health care settings.

Additional indexing

Item Type:Journal Article, refereed, original work
Communities & Collections:04 Faculty of Medicine > Institute of Implementation Science in Health Care
Dewey Decimal Classification:610 Medicine & health
Scopus Subject Areas:Health Sciences > Health Informatics
Uncontrolled Keywords:Health Informatics
Language:English
Date:1 November 2023
Deposited On:01 Dec 2023 09:57
Last Modified:30 Oct 2024 02:38
Publisher:JMIR Publications
ISSN:1438-8871
OA Status:Gold
Free access at:Publisher DOI. An embargo period may apply.
Publisher DOI:https://doi.org/10.2196/50767
Related URLs:https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/234726/
PubMed ID:37910153
Other Identification Number:PMCID: PMC10652195
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  • Language: English
  • Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

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