The technology is said to struggle with ‘broad’ accents
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Patients in Yorkshire are struggling to use an artificial intelligence (AI) GP receptionist because it cannot understand their accents, a health watchdog has said.
In some surgeries, the triaging of patients is done using a AI system called EMMA, designed to cut waiting times on the phone.
However, Healthwatch Rotherham said some “broad Yorkshire accents” cannot always be understood by the technology.
QuantumLoopAI, the company behind EMMA, said its design allowed it to understand many different dialects, but patients can also speak to a human at any time if they so wish.
Healthwatch Rotheram manager Kym Gleeson told the BBC: "One of the issues is this system can't always understand what people's inquiry is about due to their broad Yorkshire accent.
"Across South Yorkshire, accents do vary quite a lot. There are different twangs so there's a lot of variation.
"It seems the system isn't always able to understand, so that causes frustration."
Healthwatch’s team spoke to elderly and veterans groups to tell them they can opt out of using the technology, but it has meant some calls were dealt with faster.
Ms Gleeson said: "Practices use websites to triage but if you prefer to use the telephone it can be hard to navigate this AI system, especially if you're feeling quite vulnerable due to ill health.
"Some of the people said they had ended up going to the surgery in person because they felt using a telephone was no longer a comfortable process for them."
"In that sense, it is a good system but for some people who don't want to tell AI their details, it is a concern," she added.
QuantumLoopAI told the BBC that it understood concerns and said there could be an adjustment period for the technology.
A spokesperson said: "EMMA does not make clinical decisions. She is designed and trained to understand a wide range of accents and dialects and supports 17 languages in addition to English.
"Where she is unable to understand or deal with a patient's request the call is transferred to the reception team. No caller is required to continue speaking with EMMA, and anyone can ask to speak to a member of staff at any time.
"EMMA is designed to improve access by answering calls instantly and removing telephone queues."
The firm added that feedback has been "overwhelmingly positive" around the country.
More than 90 per cent of patients have reported an improvement in service, it said.
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