Robot doctor could help with future virus outbreak

Artificial intelligence and robotics experts in Edinburgh are working to create what they hope will be the first healthcare robots to hold a conversation with more than one person at a time. It is a project designed to help older people, but it could one day be used to help handle virus outbreaks like the coronavirus pandemic. "It's not something we had actually considered while designing the project," says Heriot-Watt's professor of computer science Oliver Lemon. "But as it turns out it's quite relevant to what's going on today. "You can imagine in the future that when you walk into a hospital waiting room, instead of encountering a human you encounter a robot who's able to help you.