Google.org funds Clalit’s multilingual AI care assistant

The organizations announced a two-year grant on Sunday.[1] Clalit described the $2 million as a donation rather than a commercial deal or joint venture, and said it would not need to contribute its own funds to develop the system.[1] The funding is intended for the AI layer, including engineering hires and adaptation to different languages and dialects.[1] Clalit plans to build on its existing electronic medical-record systems and cloud infrastructure.[1] The assistant is designed to support patients from preparing for appointments through follow-up care.[1]

The assistant is intended for patients who face language barriers, have limited literacy, or have limited access to smartphones and the internet.[1] Speech recognition is meant to let patients communicate in their own languages and natural speaking styles.[1] Planned tasks include reporting symptoms, scheduling appointments and completing preliminary medical intake, without typing.[1] The project also includes an interactive voice-response system compatible with kosher phones.[1] A separate voice service is intended for people without internet access or whose devices block apps and text messages; it is planned to work through landlines and standard mobile phones.[1]

The organizations plan to test the system in a pilot before a nationwide rollout, but have not disclosed a timetable.[1] They have also not set specific targets for measuring success or explained how ongoing operation will be financed.[1] The intended reach is described as five million insured members, a figure that roughly corresponds to Clalit’s overall membership.[1][2] For teams assessing the project, those omissions mean that the announced grant and intended reach do not yet establish when the service will launch or how its results will be judged.[1]

Clalit says the project’s architecture may eventually be made open source for healthcare organizations worldwide, but describes that as a future ambition without a timetable.[1] It says only the software code and AI methodology would be open source; patient records and clinical information would remain in its protected network.[1] Clalit also says patient conversations will be encrypted and data de-identified, and that the system will use Zero Trust Network Access, encrypt data and separate patient information from external systems.[1] It says medical information will not go to public repositories or Google Search, and that the Google.org agreement excludes patient data.[1]