A virtual medical receptionist named 'Cassie', developed during research at Texas A&M University, is looking to transform the way patients interact with healthcare providers.
Cassie is a digital-human assistant created by Humanate Digital, a startup which includes Dr. Mark Benden, professor in the Texas A&M School of Public Health and director of the Center for Worker Health.
The AI-powered avatar can speak more than 100 languages, including Sign Language, and uses facial recognition to mimic human emotions, making interactions feel more natural and comforting.
Cassie is being tested in several clinics to assist with administrative tasks such as checking in patients, requesting medical records and guiding users through paperwork. “We’re not trying to replace doctors or nurses,” Benden said. “We’re focused on the administrative side — tasks that are repetitive, time-consuming and not the best use of a clinician’s time.”
A key differentiator from early research is that Cassie was developed to be emotionally responsive, using facial recognition to read the user’s expressions and adjust its tone accordingly. “Our goal is to provide a happy digital human to have a conversation with you. She can smile, interact, tell dad jokes — even mimic your mood. But if you’re on a serious topic, like a cancer diagnosis, she can become more serious, more focused,” Benden said.
Benden said the technology has potential applications in pediatric care — Humanate is developing a cartoon-style avatar named Oliver to help children navigate medical procedures. “Oliver would guide a child through something that might be kind of scary and stay with them throughout, on a mobile device, for comfort and engagement,” Benden said.
“Before large language models, we had to guess what AI assistants might say and manually enter those responses,” Benden said. “Now, Cassie can understand various accents and multiple languages, and provide more flexible and intelligent responses.”
While Cassie may not immediately lower healthcare costs for patients, the technology can help clinics operate more efficiently — particularly those in financially vulnerable areas.