scholarly journals Artificial intelligence-based conversational agent to support medication prescribing

JAMIA Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita M Preininger ◽  
Brett South ◽  
Jeff Heiland ◽  
Adam Buchold ◽  
Mya Baca ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective This article describes the system architecture, training, initial use, and performance of Watson Assistant (WA), an artificial intelligence-based conversational agent, accessible within Micromedex®. Materials and methods The number and frequency of intents (target of a user’s query) triggered in WA during its initial use were examined; intents triggered over 9 months were compared to the frequency of topics accessed via keyword search of Micromedex. Accuracy of WA intents assigned to 400 queries was compared to assignments by 2 independent subject matter experts (SMEs), with inter-rater reliability measured by Cohen’s kappa. Results In over 126 000 conversations with WA, intents most frequently triggered involved dosing (N = 30 239, 23.9%) and administration (N = 14 520, 11.5%). SMEs with substantial inter-rater agreement (kappa = 0.71) agreed with intent mapping in 247 of 400 queries (62%), including 16 queries related to content that WA and SMEs agreed was unavailable in WA. SMEs found 57 (14%) of 400 queries incorrectly mapped by WA; 112 (28%) queries unanswerable by WA included queries that were either ambiguous, contained unrecognized typographical errors, or addressed topics unavailable to WA. Of the queries answerable by WA (288), SMEs determined 231 (80%) were correctly linked to an intent. Discussion A conversational agent successfully linked most queries to intents in Micromedex. Ongoing system training seeks to widen the scope of WA and improve matching capabilities. Conclusion WA enabled Micromedex users to obtain answers to many medication-related questions using natural language, with the conversational agent facilitating mapping to a broader distribution of topics than standard keyword searches.

Author(s):  
Nilesh Ade ◽  
Noor Quddus ◽  
Trent Parker ◽  
S.Camille Peres

One of the major implications of Industry 4.0 will be the application of digital procedures in process industries. Digital procedures are procedures that are accessed through a smart gadget such as a tablet or a phone. However, like paper-based procedures their usability is limited by their access. The issue of accessibility is magnified in tasks such as loading a hopper car with plastic pellets wherein the operators typically place the procedure at a safe distance from the worksite. This drawback can be tackled in the case of digital procedures using artificial intelligence-based voice enabled conversational agent (chatbot). As a part of this study, we have developed a chatbot for assisting digital procedure adherence. The chatbot is trained using the possible set of queries from the operator and text from the digital procedures through deep learning and provides responses using natural language generation. The testing of the chatbot is performed using a simulated conversation with an operator performing the task of loading a hopper car.


Author(s):  
Ji Ke ◽  
J. S. Wallace ◽  
L. H. Shu

Biology is a good source of analogies for engineering design. One approach of retrieving biological analogies is to perform keyword searches on natural-language sources such as books, journals, etc. A challenge of retrieving information from natural-language sources is the potential requirement to process a large number of search results. This paper describes a categorization method that organizes a large group of diverse biological information into meaningful categories. The benefits of the categorization functionality are demonstrated through a case study on the redesign of a fuel cell bipolar plate. In this case study, our categorization method reduced the effort to systematically identify biological phenomena by up to ∼80%.


2002 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y.C. Ng ◽  
K.S. Tey ◽  
K.R. Subramanian ◽  
S.B. Tor ◽  
L.P. Khoo ◽  
...  

Although Concurrent and Collaborative Engineering (CCE) has enjoyed widespread acceptance in industry, many implementation problems remain. With the advent of more powerful artificial intelligence techniques, CCE can be further improved. This paper demonstrates how intelligent software agents may be deployed to facilitate concurrent, collaborative engineering. A system architecture, Java Agent Alive!, is presented as a multi-agent environment. A case study of configuring a personal computer (PC) from its processor, memory and hard disk drive is discussed to highlight the power of software agents in negotiating for the PC configuration with the best price and performance. A software agent is created and assigned to each of the PC components. These agents attend two levels of agent conferences, viz. the bidding conference and the PC component vendor's conference. At both conferences, each agent strives to offer components with the best performance and the lowest price. The agents were ascribed artificial intelligence through the Java Expert System Shell (JESS). At the end of the negotiations, five PC configurations were finalised that met the expectations of the user, who is informed of the outcome via e-mail. The strengths and limitations of the system architecture and the domain application of PC assembly, as well as means to enhance security, are also discussed. Some recommendations to further improve the limitations of Java Agent Alive! and the PC Assembly application are made.


Author(s):  
Joana Lobo ◽  
Liliana Ferreira ◽  
Aníbal JS Ferreira

The incidence of chronic diseases is increasing and monitoring patients in a home environment is recommended. Noncompliance with prescribed medication regimens is a concern, especially among older people. Heart failure is a chronic disease that requires patients to follow strict medication plans permanently. With the objective of helping these patients managing information about their medicines and increasing adherence, the personal medication advisor CARMIE was developed as a conversational agent capable of interacting, in Portuguese, with users through spoken natural language. The system architecture is based on a language parser, a dialog manager, and a language generator, integrated with already existing tools for speech recognition and synthesis. All modules work together and interact with the user through an Android application, supporting users to manage information about their prescribed medicines. The authors also present a preliminary usability study and further considerations on CARMIE.


1996 ◽  
Vol 35 (04/05) ◽  
pp. 309-316 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. R. Lehto ◽  
G. S. Sorock

Abstract:Bayesian inferencing as a machine learning technique was evaluated for identifying pre-crash activity and crash type from accident narratives describing 3,686 motor vehicle crashes. It was hypothesized that a Bayesian model could learn from a computer search for 63 keywords related to accident categories. Learning was described in terms of the ability to accurately classify previously unclassifiable narratives not containing the original keywords. When narratives contained keywords, the results obtained using both the Bayesian model and keyword search corresponded closely to expert ratings (P(detection)≥0.9, and P(false positive)≤0.05). For narratives not containing keywords, when the threshold used by the Bayesian model was varied between p>0.5 and p>0.9, the overall probability of detecting a category assigned by the expert varied between 67% and 12%. False positives correspondingly varied between 32% and 3%. These latter results demonstrated that the Bayesian system learned from the results of the keyword searches.


Discourse ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 109-117
Author(s):  
O. M. Polyakov

Introduction. The article continues the series of publications on the linguistics of relations (hereinafter R–linguistics) and is devoted to an introduction to the logic of natural language in relation to the approach considered in the series. The problem of natural language logic still remains relevant, since this logic differs significantly from traditional mathematical logic. Moreover, with the appearance of artificial intelligence systems, the importance of this problem only increases. The article analyzes logical problems that prevent the application of classical logic methods to natural languages. This is possible because R-linguistics forms the semantics of a language in the form of world model structures in which language sentences are interpreted.Methodology and sources. The results obtained in the previous parts of the series are used as research tools. To develop the necessary mathematical representations in the field of logic and semantics, the formulated concept of the interpretation operator is used.Results and discussion. The problems that arise when studying the logic of natural language in the framework of R–linguistics are analyzed. These issues are discussed in three aspects: the logical aspect itself; the linguistic aspect; the aspect of correlation with reality. A very General approach to language semantics is considered and semantic axioms of the language are formulated. The problems of the language and its logic related to the most General view of semantics are shown.Conclusion. It is shown that the application of mathematical logic, regardless of its type, to the study of natural language logic faces significant problems. This is a consequence of the inconsistency of existing approaches with the world model. But it is the coherence with the world model that allows us to build a new logical approach. Matching with the model means a semantic approach to logic. Even the most General view of semantics allows to formulate important results about the properties of languages that lack meaning. The simplest examples of semantic interpretation of traditional logic demonstrate its semantic problems (primarily related to negation).


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