This chatbot could help the elderly make difficult end-of-life decisions

A team from the Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, has created a chatbot to help people through their end-of-life decisions. It is set to be trialled with terminally ill patients in the Boston area over the next two years, reports New Scientist. Besides offering spiritual guidance, the tablet-based chatbot helps people who are nearing death, plan funerals and set up their wills, say its makers. Timothy Bickmore, researcher from the Northeastern University in Boston, who led the team that created the chatbot pointed out how several people on their deathbed never really get a chance to have these difficult conversations before they pass. Bickmore's team included doctors and chaplains.