Technologies that leverage natural language processing (NLP), like iPhone’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa, are widely used to assist humans with simple commands. Emerging applications of NLP extend human-machine interactions into new realms. Recent examples include texting with a chatbot for social support or for cognitive behavioral therapy and conversing with an artificially intelligent (AI) holograph instilled with lived experiences. Though these technologies help patients overcome barriers to care, such as resource limitations and stigma, key ethical challenges remain in their development, dissemination, and use. These include privacy, access, representation, transparency, potential harms, authority, mandatory reporting, and more.

 
For more information on the public facing activities and symposium: https://bioethics.jhu.edu/virtualhumans