Now, in addition to calling the City’s 3-1-1 information line, Austin residents can connect with the “City of Austin Bot” at any time of the day or night. The chatbot is updated with the latest information from local and state government agencies, so citizens can be confident in the answers they receive.
In addition to CDC-informed topics, the Austin IBM watsonx Assistant for Citizens chatbot is also conversant in many additional topics related to staying at home, social distancing, people at high risk, local screening resources, local news updates, business and school closures, and job loss and unemployment services.
During the initial rollout, the chatbot was set up to interact with citizens over a text-based chat. However, it can also listen to and speak with users through a phone interface, and the City of Austin plans to add voice functionality after further testing.
“The virtual assistant’s natural language processing technology, which teaches machines to better understand human linguistics, will allow the quality of the service to improve over time,” says Divya Rathanlal, Emerging Technology Program Manager for the City of Austin. “Our residents are counting on us to provide very timely updates on COVID-19 and the evolving situation.”
“The chatbot is very nimble, robust platform that makes content curation easy,” says Dean. “With this communication tool augmenting our other channels, the City is able to shorten the distance between residents and the vital, pandemic-related information they’re asking for.”
The COVID-19 pandemic will take unpredictable twists and turns as it moves through communities across America and around the world. But one constant through this outbreak will be the commitment of government leaders to serve their citizens—and the commitment of IBM to provide civic leaders with AI-powered resources that can reassure humanity during a time of great uncertainty.