Patients in Yorkshire are facing difficulties accessing their general practitioner (GP) appointments due to an artificial intelligence receptionist's inability to understand their regional accents. The AI system, named EMMA (Enhanced Medical Management Assistant), was implemented by some surgeries to reduce phone waiting times and manage patient inquiries. However, a health watchdog has reported that the chatbot struggles with broad Yorkshire accents, causing significant frustration for patients.
Healthwatch Rotherham, after engaging with various community groups, flagged concerns that EMMA does not effectively process speech variations, including regional accents and impediments. This difficulty, according to Healthwatch, comes at a cost to patients who feel unable to contact their GP without experiencing stress and frustration. Some individuals have expressed a preference for being placed on hold to speak with a human receptionist rather than interacting with the AI. Reports also detail issues such as a lack of empathy from the chatbot, lengthy calls, dropped connections, and the need for repeated information.
In some instances, patients have resorted to bypassing their GP altogether, seeking treatment at A&E departments or self-medicating. The introduction of EMMA has also led to some patients switching GPs. One patient recounted, "I could never get it to understand me, I ended up just hanging up and not bothering to try and book an appointment."
Kym Gleeson, Healthwatch manager, explained to the BBC that the system's difficulty in understanding the nuances of Yorkshire accents, which include diverse regional variations, leads to frustration. While acknowledging that some patients have experienced faster service, Gleeson highlighted the ongoing challenges.
A spokesperson for QuantumLoopAI, the developer of EMMA, stated that the AI does not make clinical decisions. The company asserts that EMMA is designed and trained to understand a wide range of accents and dialects and supports 17 languages in addition to English. If EMMA is unable to understand a patient's request, the call is intended to be transferred to a human reception team. The company also clarified that callers are not required to continue speaking with EMMA and can request to speak to a staff member at any time. QuantumLoopAI maintains that EMMA is designed to improve access by providing instant call answering and eliminating telephone queues. The company reported receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback, with over 90 percent of patients indicating a positive improvement in service.