AI4PH FAQs
Building on our successful use of AI to improve access to Adult Social Care information, we’re now supporting Public Health colleagues to tackle key challenges. By co-designing services with experts, the AI-driven approach acts as a ‘1-on-1 health coach’ via WhatsApp, offering 24/7 personalised advice for challenges like smoking cessation, weight management, alcohol dependency, and childhood obesity. Since the launch of our exciting AI4PH Quit Coach tool, we have answered a variety of questions during our webinar and 1-2-1 sessions. We have listed these questions, and answers below to help you understand the tool and its capabilities.
Where do you get the content from?
Content for the system is curated by you. We have a content plan that you can populate, and we ingest this into a ‘locked box’ of content in the system for the AI to refer to. We will however use Medway’s existing content as a baseline for the content curation, this will give you something to work from and maybe plenty of content that you might want to continue to use.
What is the difference between the scheduled messages and someone asking a question?
Scheduled messages are already curated, and will go out to someone on a schedule – these are planned ahead and built into the system. If someone asks the system a question off the back of a curated question, or at a random interval, the tool will respond to this by using the locked box of content that has been ingested into the system.
How is AI4PH marketed?
How you market the tool is down to you and your marketing team. You might wish to only market it to users of a specific demographic, or you might want to offer it to everyone in your area. We can work closely with you to form a marketing plan for the tool and support with assets and comms if you need us to.
How does someone sign up for the service?
The service is really simple for someone to sign up to. Once they have seen the marketing, and they have the link to access the tool, they can sign themselves up via an online form – here they input their details and choose the type of persona they would like their coach to have – the messaging will then start via WhatsApp on the schedule that you have set.
What metrics are collected?
The tool has a dashboard, which you will have access to – this tool outlines all metrics associated with any WhatsApp chats, as well as a copy of the whole chat. Only assigned people are able to access this information.
Can I use my Section 31 funding?
Yes, you can use your section 31 funding for this tool.
Does the 32% quit rate complement other services, e.g NRT or medication? Or is there a way of calculating the added benefit of Quit Coach?
You are able to see in the dashboards all of the data around each interaction, this can be utilised to effectively analyse the benefit of the tool against your existing statistics. You can utilise the tool to support NRT services and/or medication, building this into the content that the quit coach uses.
How are you following up smokers post quit who use the AI service to check they have remained smoke-free? Does the AI service do this?
This process can be built into your scheduled messaging. Currently the service checks in at day 34 to check that the user has remained smoke free. This is all amendable.
Can you use the quit outcome data from this approach in the quarterly returns? I am being challenged to ensure that all support conforms to Russell Standards to use data
Medway Council (who are piloting AI4PH) have been in dialogue with The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) and central government colleagues regarding this service. They have been very supportive of the concept and using the Section 31 grant to support more people to quit. Their existing text to quit service was permitted and passed the Russell Standard test for quarterly returns, so believe our AI Quit tool will do the same.
There can be IG questions about the security of WhatsApp. Have you been through that pain and can you share your experience which may help speed up IG conversations in other areas?
Yes, we have Information Governance (IG) documents already to help support these conversations. These can be shared ahead of time to provide answers to any questions teams might have.
What are the costs for the AI4PH Quit Coach?
Our base cost covers support for up to 150 unique (moderated) clients on their quit journey, with the option to add more. If you require pricing for 250 clients or a different number, we can provide a tailored quote. Please get in touch to request one.
What if they are not registered with a GP? Does this still support them?
The AI Quit tool will still support people who smoke in Medway if they are not registered with a GP (Medway Council are piloting the AI4PH service.)
Would they be able to get Cytisine and Varenicline?
Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) options are configurable for each area.
Is only Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) available as part of their pharma co-therapy journey?
NRT options are configurable for each area.
Can this then be linked to having a vape kit sent out to them?
You can determine any steps and outcomes from the service when setting it up. If you want the outcome to be that your quitters are provided with a vape kit, we can incorporate this into the build of the service.
Is this the first AI powered WhatsApp stop smoking service in the country? If not, do we know what the success rates are for this type of intervention other than Medway SMS service?
We believe AI4PH is the first AI powered, WhatsApp based smoking cessation service in the country. Certainly, research on the procurement platform G-Cloud 14 does not offer up any alternatives. We know of a NIHR funded AI App – more info here.
What about the use of predictive analytics in relation to demographics, taking into account future products?
Medway Council – ‘the use of predictive analysis is something we explored during the pilot stage. The AI Quit tool will generate a good amount of information relating to someone’s quit journey, so alongside our current data from our Client Record Management System, we hope to be able to learn more about our service users, both in terms of how we reach them, motivate them to want to quit and help them achieve their goal.’
Does the app have any audio enabled function? Just thinking about literacy levels of some who may wish to try this tool
Yes the tool supports audio using WhatsApp. If you send a voice message, AI will respond with a voice note – all voices can be customised by using a library of voices available. For example, with the breastfeeding project (another project that was piloted by Medway Council) a woman’s voice was used with a soft tone.
What happens if more than 150 people sign up?
Our tool is offered on an annual licence model which does not restrict users or “quitters” but is instead shaped around AI token usage. The difference between input and output tokens in AI model pricing primarily lies in their impact on the cost associated with using the model. Input tokens are the units of text or code that are fed into the AI model as input. When you provide a prompt or query to the model, it breaks it down into input tokens. The more words or characters in your input, the more input tokens are involved, and consequently, the higher the cost. Output tokens are the units of text or code generated by the AI model as output. When the model processes your input and generates a response, it produces output tokens. Similar to input tokens, the length of the generated output determines the number of output tokens and, therefore, the cost. In general, both input and output tokens contribute to the overall cost of using an AI model. However, the pricing structure may vary depending on the specific model and provider. Some models may charge more for input tokens, while others may charge more for output tokens, or they may have a combined pricing scheme.
What sort of quitter are you? A quiz could help with coach approach
This would be a great way of building an AI Coach/Personality on a user-by-user basis.
What model are you using?
We are AI agnostic, the tool works across a variety of AI providers.
Does AI4PH support multiple languages?
Yes, this is a multi-lingual tool.
Are any conversations monitored by staff?
All chats conducted can be seen and monitored within the dashboard. Any trigger terms will be highlighted in the monitoring section of the dashboard too.
Will the AI information in Quit Coach be updated as new information/legislation comes out?
The knowledge is all adaptable and you can add to it at any time – whether that be national legislation or localised group/support information. We will keep it up to date as information/legislation progresses.
Is there a test version of the Quit Coach that we can access?
Yes, please get in touch to request the link for this.
How many attempts will there be to engage with someone if they stop interacting?
All communications with the user are chosen by you. Should you wish to implement a specific engagement strategy to keep in touch with disengaged users then this can be done.
Is data removal after a quit attempt – whether successful or unsuccessful – configurable?
Yes, data retention settings can be configured to suit your needs. Our system includes an automated data anonymisation process that runs in the background and can be triggered based on a time period set for each installation and data action. For example, data can be anonymised or deleted after a set duration following the end of a quit attempt. These settings will be agreed with you during implementation to ensure they align with your organisation’s policies.
If the user is pregnant, will the Quit Coach adjust it’s advice?
Yes, the chat will change the advice it is giving, and the focus of the messaging to support someone who is pregnant. This information needs to be given to the tool though, either in the sign up process, or by the user interaction.
Are we able to use the Quit Coach to refer service users to local face to face services/other stop smoking services?
Yes, the scheduled messaging within Quit Coach can be controlled and tailored to promote face-to-face (F2F) support services. For example, if the Coach identifies that someone may need additional support, it can be configured to share details of available F2F options. Similarly, messages can be scheduled at any point in the user journey to proactively inform users about F2F services that can be used alongside Quit Coach.
How does the Quit Coach work with potential safeguarding issues?
There are built-in, AI-driven safeguarding monitors within the system. If the AI detects language indicating concerns related to key safeguarding categories – such as violence, self-harm, or similar issues – the conversation is flagged, and a designated member of the organisation is alerted via email. Where appropriate, an automated response can also be triggered to notify the user that a concern has been raised, along with signposting to relevant support services and contact details.
