Dr. Cory Kidd, founder of Catalia Health, delivers an informative overview of the current state of AI in healthcare technology.

Dr. Kidd discusses how we interact with robots. As he explains, a robot can actually initiate sophisticated and ongoing engagement with patients who need assistance in select ways. By creating robots that can look you in the eye, and create a psychological connection that users respond well to, Catalia Health is helping to improve the quality of care that patients provide to themselves. The robots are constructed upon artificial intelligence algorithms that utilize psychology to engage in important conversations with the patients who use them. It’s an interactive experience that is human-like in a way, as the robots interact in a manner that is comforting to patients.

Catalia Health’s robots learn about a patient’s personality, as well as any medical treatment problems or challenges. Therefore the ‘Mabu’ robot can have conversations that are tailored to an individual patient that have been proven to promote behavioral changes that lead to a higher chance for increased wellness. This is because the Mabu robot communicates on a daily basis with patients, helping them to manage their treatment and care better. Dr. Kidd discusses the data that has to show their success. In multiple tests, the robot was preferred for care management by far over alternative means such as paper records and computer software. And as if these tests weren’t enough proof of the success of the robot partners for their user patients, many individuals who were given a test robot to try were reluctant to part with it when the testing was over.

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