French researchers on Monday launched a national phone line staffed by virtual assistants to help people determine if they are infected with the novel coronavirus.
The so-called “AlloCOVID” service was developed by France’s National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), researchers at the University of Paris and the French railway company SNCF.
As of Monday, a total of 1,000 “intelligent virtual voice agents” are at the disposal of citizens over 15 years old suffering from potential coronavirus symptoms. The assistants assess whether callers have been infected with the disease and redirect them to the right health professionals using artificial intelligence.
“The digital assistant is also capable of detecting signs of the severity of the disease, as well as vulnerable patients requiring special attention,” the relevant statement said.
The developers expressed hope that the service will allow authorities to monitor the spread of the pandemic across the country and noted that citizens will be able to “actively participate in the fight against the health crisis… without any concession on data protection and individual freedoms.”
People reaching the phone line are asked for their postcode but not their name, while their information is sent anonymously to health authorities and kept for seven days before being destroyed. The service is available to the citizens 24/7.
