The Disease Control Butler, a chatbot available on the official LINE account (＠taiwancdc) of Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC), is celebrating its first birthday! Taiwan CDC held a press conference on September 19 to mark the occasion with a fondant cake in the shape of the Disease Control Butler. An animated promotional film and the Disease Control Butler version 2.0 were also released. The one-year-old chatbot provides updates on disease outbreaks and public health threats of over 200 countries. Version 2.0 allows LINE users to ask questions about over 90 infectious diseases, including ones commonly caught while traveling. It also reminds users of taking preventive measures before traveling overseas to avoid bringing diseases home.

  In 2017, Taiwan CDC partnered with HTC to develop the Disease Control Butler, who now has more than 70,000 LINE friends. Aside from providing flu vaccine-related information, the upgraded chatbot can also answer questions regarding infectious diseases. Users can learn about dengue fever prevention and enterovirus symptoms as well as search for nearby health care providers. Before going abroad, turn to the Disease Control Butler for the latest disease situation at your destination, and discover ways to avoid infection. For example, users will be informed if they need pre-travel vaccines or preventive medical treatments. You can also search for the nearest travel medicine clinic. Provide your departure and return dates and the chatbot will send reminders on disease prevention 45 days before your trip and health management alerts after you return.

  Taiwan CDC Director-General Chou Jih-haw thanked the HTC development team for their contribution to the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases. The HTC team not only provided technical expertise to build a user-friendly interface for the chatbot but was also committed to bringing the chatbot closer to the people, Chou said. Through AI technology, the Disease Control Butler can provide timely and accurate epidemiological information, becoming a health advocate in everyone’s pocket, he added.

  Edward Chang, the President of Research and Healthcare at HTC, said his development team has introduced a number of groundbreaking innovations worldwide and has earned the recognition from international AI experts. This time, his team collaborated with Taiwan CDC and tailored services according to the needs of the society. Powered by medical natural language processing and machine learning technology behind a thoughtful user experience design, the chatbot gets smarter as more people interact with it. It provides information on epidemic prevention based on the user’s inquiries, providing users with a better understanding of infectious diseases.

  Taiwan CDC encourages LINE users to join the conversation with the Disease Control Butler by going to Official Accounts and typing “疾管家” or “＠taiwancdc” in the search bar. Users planning to go overseas are welcome to try out the new features for travelers. In addition, this year’s government-funded vaccination campaign starts on October 15, and the chatbot has the latest information on eligibility requirements, participating medical institutions, and so on. To learn more, please visit Taiwan CDC’s official website: http://www.cdc.gov.tw or watch the animated promotional film on Taiwan CDC’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/taiwancdc.