WHO recruits first digital human to fight Covid-19 disinformation
During the pandemic disinformation has been rife and endangered lives. So now digital humans, who can scale and engage with people, are being called in to fight it.
Key takeaways
- See Florence in action Florence, who is the WHO’s first digital health worker, was created using Soul Machines Digital DNA platform and WHO technical guidance with support from Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud.
- Florence will help provide clarity and expel damaging myths around COVID-19, and to address smoking and its consequences - heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and respiratory diseases - all of which are co-morbidities with COVID-19.
Cite or link to this article
Griffin, M. (2020) 'WHO recruits first digital human to fight Covid-19 disinformation', 311 Institute, 26 October. Available at: https://www.311institute.com/who-recruits-first-digital-human-to-help-fight-covid-19-disinformation/ (Accessed: 1 October 2026).
New Zealand based Soul Machines, the developer of life like digital human assistants like Will, who is now teaching children in New Zealand about renewable energy, or Ava who is running customer service for Daimler and also selling mortgages for UK bank Natwest, have announced that their digital humans have yet another new job helping the World Health Organization to fight COVID-19 and smoking.
A digital human Artificial Intelligence (AI) called "Florence" will assist WHO's “access initiative” for quitting tobacco and to share life-saving information during the COVID-19 pandemic and combat disinformation. And you can try her for yourself here.
See Florence in action
Florence, who is the WHO’s first digital health worker, was created using Soul Machines Digital DNA platform and WHO technical guidance with support from Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud.
Florence will help provide clarity and expel damaging myths around COVID-19, and to address smoking and its consequences - heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and respiratory diseases - all of which are co-morbidities with COVID-19.
Although around 60 per cent of the 1.3 billion tobacco users globally want to quit, only 30 per cent of them have access to tools that can help them quit, and so now smokers can engage Florence to develop a quit plan and access a trusted source anytime and from any place to help them quit.
Initially available in English WHO say Florence will, over time, be available in all six official UN languages, and “her” ability to scale and talk to potentially millions of individuals all at once in a personal way, thanks to her neural network brain, rather than with pre-configured answers or questions like conventional “dumb” bots, will also help free up critical people resources at the organisation.
“We are pleased to partner with the WHO to help reimagine the massive challenge of how to scale health communication in a high-trust way as cases of COVID-19 continue to rise globally,” said Soul Machines co-founder and chief business officer Greg Cross.
“We congratulate the WHO on leading the world in the application of AI in public health. Bold innovation is required to help close the gap in access to health care."
Source: WHO
FAQ
Why does this matter?
During the pandemic disinformation has been rife and endangered lives. So now digital humans, who can scale and engage with people, are being called in to fight it.
About the author
Matthew Griffin Founder, 311 Institute
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath."
Read full bio
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath." 15-time best selling author of the "Codex of the Future" series, Matthew is the Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working with royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77 governments, NGOs, and multi-national mid and mega cap firms to help them explore, shape, and lead the next 50 years of business and society.
An award-winning YouTube creator with over a million followers, with an unrivalled global reach and impact, Matthew is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, lecturer, and mentor who collaborates with global leaders through the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to shape pivotal initiatives such as the UN’s AI for Humanity program, the United Nations Conference of the Parties (UN COP), and the World Economic Forum in Davos.
As the former Global Head of Cloud, National Security, and Enterprise Sales for companies including Atos, Dell-EMC, and IBM, Matthew has a proven track record of building multi-billion dollar business units and turning failing divisions into market leaders. His ability to identify, analyse, and communicate the implications of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends is unparalleled, and his insights are trusted by many of the world’s most respected organisations, including ABB, Accenture, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi, Coca-Cola, Dentons, Deloitte, Dow Jones, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, Siemens AG and Siemens Energy, T-Mobile, UBS, VISA, Walmart, Workday, Worldpay and many others.
Regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, Matthews mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.
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Sources and further reading
- here who-en.digitalhero.cloud
- Using ai to quit tobacco who.int
Source: first published by the 311 Institute on 26 October 2020. Cite as: Griffin, M. (2020). WHO recruits first digital human to fight Covid-19 disinformation. 311 Institute. https://www.311institute.com/who-recruits-first-digital-human-to-help-fight-covid-19-disinformation/
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