Apple’s voice assistant Siri can now respond to users who are worried they may have coronavirus with a questionnaire
- Siri can now respond to users who are worried they may have COVID-19
- The voice assistant now responds with a questionnaire
- Among other things, Siri asks is users have a fever or cough
- It then directs them to stay home or seek help from a doctor or 911
- Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should you see a doctor?
Even Apple’s voice assistant, Siri, is being forced to adapt to an ongoing health crisis.
As reported by CNBC, Siri is now capable of responding to users who ask the assistant about whether they have novel coronavirus, COVID-19.
Queries like, ‘Hey Siri, do I have the coronavirus?’ will now elicit a questionnaire asking users if they have a fever or a cough and will recommend those that are experiencing potentially fatal symptoms to call 911.
Siri can now respond to users who are worried they may have COVID-19 using a quesionnaire to judge their symptoms (stock)
CNBC reports that if the symptoms appear to be more mild, Siri will instruct users to stay home and avoid contact with others instead.
It may also redirect some users to the App Store where they can download apps that let them consult with a doctor digitally.
Apple says that all of its answers are pulled from the U.S. Public Health Service, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services, in addition to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
While the service is currently only available in the US, it’s possible that it could be rolled out more broadly in the future.
Apple is among several big tech companies attempting to use their platforms for spreading legitimate information.
In a blog post on Monday, Facebook said it’s extending its developer resources to governments so that they can develop apps and bots that are capable of notifying people when there’s a relevant update.
‘We’re partnering with our developer community to provide free services to government health organizations and UN health agencies to help them use Messenger to scale their response to the COVID-19 crisis,’ said the company in a statement.
Similarly, Facebook has used its popular messaging app WhatsApp to help spread vital information during an ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Specifically, the ‘WhatsApp Coronavirus Information Hub’ marries the Facebook-owned company partner with the WHO and UNICEF to provide reliable information to users.