Hello, how may A.I. help you?

But if you were imagining a human being here, think again. Wendy is a digital human. Wait, what? Wendy looks like a human, but is in fact powered by artificial intelligence (AI). This means she can hear and understand the context of a conversation while maintaining a personal experience. With voice and visual interaction, she goes far beyond your average chatbot.

When COVID-19 emerged, the people under Omring’s care – all part of the high-risk group – had many questions. “Can I shop for groceries myself? Can my grandchildren visit?” Many were also feeling lonely as nurses could not visit clients at home anymore due to risk of infection.

Our team of developers quickly sped up the creation of Wendy. In five weeks, we were ready to test her with Omring nurses, clients and our own grandparents. In May 2020, Wendy started helping clients, but was publicly available for older people throughout the country. She answered their questions through validated resources such as the website of the Dutch institute for public health, and was even able to have a nice chat.

The next career step for Wendy is to answer broader healthcare-related questions and redirect questions to the right employees at Omring. With increasing pressure on the healthcare system and resources, she might even be a health coach, supporting people to live at home longer. Who knows what’s in store for her?

Bots can’t replace humans, this much we know. But with digital humans able to do much more than a chatbot, they’ve proven to be a big support in serving the public during difficult times – paving the way for the future of customer service and interaction.