WhatsApp and nonprofit Girl Effect announce the launch of artificial intelligence (AI) based chatbot ‘Bol Behen’ (colloquial Hindi for ‘Speak, Sister’) in India to help adolescent girls and young women with concerns and queries around general health and sexual wellbeing.
The Hinglish language chatbot is design to provide content on topics such as sexuality, relationship, and reproductive health in a self-pace chat experience on the instant messaging app.
You can also ask their own questions on different topics.
You can access the Bol Behen chatbot by sending ‘Hi’ to the number +91-7304496601 on WhatsApp or by visiting its profile on the Web.
WhatsApp said the new chatbot is target at adolescent girls and young women in the Hindi belt of India who typically use low-end smartphones with limited Internet bandwidth.
Using WhatsApp’s framework, Bol Behen is aim to have an improve understanding of sentiment of the messages it receives to respond to users more precisely.
WhatsApp is also project to reach millions of girls across India to answer their health curiosities and concerns and connect them to vetted services in the future.
Girl Effect first launch the Bol Behen chatbot on Facebook Messenger in India in 2020.
It is claim to have scale up to reach over 100,000 conversations, with over 1.6 million messages received.
This chatbot is inspire by Girl Effect’s initial chatbot Big Sis that was launch in South Africa to offer non-judgmental advice on topics including sexual health and relationships.
Kanishk Kabiraj, Girl Effect Country Lead for India, Said :
Girl Effect works to reach girls and young women across Africa and Asia with chatbots, chat shows, and TV dramas to give them knowledge about their body and health.
Girl Effect also runs digital brand Chhaa Jaa in India for lower-income, adolescent girls across the Hindi belt. It was launched in 2019 and is reaching over 10 million girls.
Chatbots are growing on WhatsApp to help its users with automated, human-like conversations. In the recent past, the app adds chatbots to help users book COVID-19 vaccines, fight pollution, and even book cab rides.
Government agencies, and nonprofits can leverage to serve their different purposes and objectives through chatbots.