摘要：African Americans have faced health disparities in terms of access to health care andtreatment of illnesses. The novel coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic exacerbates thosedisparities caused by limited access to medical care and healthy lifestyles, vulnerability tomisleading information, and mistrust of the medical profession, all of which disproportionately affect the African American population in terms of infection and mortality.Conversational agents (CAs) are a technological intervention with the potential to narrow thedisparities because they make health care more accessible, are effective in disseminatinghealth information among a population with low health literacy, and can increase users' trustin health information.However, designing CAs for this population presents challenges withregard to embodying the African American culture into CAs and addressing privacy andsecurity concerns.This commentary discusses some advantages and challenges of using CAsto help African Americans protect themselves against coronavirus disease 2019, and calls formore research in this area.
关键词：COVID-19;conversational agent;chatbot;health disparity;african american population;marginalized population
