Indian missions in Canada deploy AI tool to address queries

Hyderabad: The High Commission of India (HCI) in Canada and consulates in Toronto and Vancouver have been flooded with queries over the coronavirus pandemic by Persons of Indian Origin (PIO).
Currently, the country has a PIO population of over 1.6 million and as many as 2,00,000 Indian students are enrolled in various Canadian institutions. To address the large number of queries, the HCI has put in place an artificial intelligence-based chat service, the CANbot.
With the number of calls increasing every day, the HCI decided to get in touch with conversation platform, Verloop.io and Portea Medical, a home healthcare company, to develop the automated multilingual chatbot.Accessible from HCI’s website, the bot will be a one-stop source of information for Indian nationals, students and PIOs in Canada. The information will be provided via WhatsApp in English, Hindi and Punjabi. The chat can also be transferred to respective consulates for better resolution of queries if needed.
Speaking on the launch, High Commissioner of India to Canada, Ajay Bisaria, said that HCI wanted to create a service that can assist people in this emergency. “We empathise with people’s concerns in these troubled times and the need to receive immediate and accurate information wherever they are,” the high commissioner said. “CANbot has the ability to quickly respond to the user’s questions relating to Covid-19, public safety measures taken in India and Canada and restrictions on international travel,” said CEO and MD of Portea Medical, Meena Ganesh.
Elaborating on the functions of CANbot, Verloop founder Gaurav Singh said: “The CANBot will help in managing the sudden spike in conversations around travel and visa restrictions. It is a true example of how technology can be used to manage so many queries comprehensively. The automated platform will enable the HCI to handle the increased volume of calls with minimal need for human intervention.”