Manikins get smarter with artificial intelligence
Alex speaks several languages, is gender fluid and shows patient’s point of view
March 26, 2020
Brett Stursa
Above photo: Director of Simulation Cynthia Bradley and BSN student Natalie Stopfer ask Alex, a state-of-the-art patient simulator powered by artificial intelligence, health history questions.
Sophomores in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program are learning how to take a patient’s health history and provide patient care with the assistance of artificial intelligence and the latest technology. Alex is a state-of-the-art patient simulator that speaks, recognizing hundreds of topics with a patient-specific response.
“The artificial intelligence is new for us,” said Cynthia Bradley, PhD, RN, CNE, CHSE, director of simulation. “I am excited to be bringing mixed realities into the learning experiences of our students here, and working with faculty to create more immersive experiences for the students of our diverse programs.”
Alex is gender fluid, which means it can be male, female or transgender, and speaks several languages, allowing for a variety of learning experiences.
“We intend to use Alex for transgender and non-English speaking scenarios to give sophomore students patient experiences in unfamiliar situations prior to encountering these with patients in their clinical experiences,” said Bradley.
Alex also has an iris cam, so that students can see the patient’s point of view and understand what they look like when they are talking to a patient and providing care to a patient.
In this Issue: Spring-Summer 2020
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Recent publications by School of Nursing faculty
A groundbreaking understanding of sexually-exploited students
New study is the first ever to estimate the prevalence of sex trading among high school-aged youth in Minnesota
From the dean
Celebrating impact in the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife