Sapio Smart Healthcare, a division of Indian government advisory firm Sapio Analytics, has developed a chatbot that assists patients from rural and remote areas in India. Based on a press statement, the AKS Sapio Med Bot was designed to understand the "local and personal" concerns of a patient, while assisting them in seeking treatment before getting medical consultations. The chatbot is named after the late Dr Ashok Kumar Srivastava, a surgeon in the tribal areas of Sahibganj and Pakur in the eastern state of Jharkhand, who had demonstrated the delivery of "empathetic healthcare". The company says the chatbot was created to emulate Dr Srivastava's care style following a large-scale evaluation of his mindset, behaviour and persona. Sapio Analytics seeks to build a comprehensive and accessible healthcare system in small towns and villages across India.