Planned Parenthood has developed a chatbot that can answer questions about sexual health, part of a larger communications effort by the health-services group to bring sex education to the young masses.
The artificial-intelligence-powered tool, created by a design shop that sought guidance from high-school students, comes as the organization defends its role in a country divided on approaches to sex education for teens and issues related to women’s health, such as abortion and government funding for certain health services.
“In this environment, it’s more important than ever that we have as many methods as possible to reach people where they are for health care and education,” said Dr. Leana Wen, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. “The chatbot is one more critical tool we’re piloting to provide that information to people.”
For years, conservative lawmakers have sought to defund Planned Parenthood, which works to offer low-cost or free health services to women through grants and government-supported health plans like Medicare and Medicaid.
Roo, as the chatbot is called, is meant to extend the organization’s reach by providing information to young people who don’t have access to sex education or only have access to programs that teach abstinence, said Dr. Wen.
Planned Parenthood funded the initiative through a private grant, as well as a sizable investment from Work & Co., a design and technology company that has worked with the organization for more than 14 months to plan and develop the product.
The chatbot, aimed at 13- to 17-year-olds who spend much of their time online, answers questions about birth control, sexually transmitted diseases and masturbation, among other topics. Users can access the tool on their phones at roo.plannedparenthood.org. The bot might direct users to additional resources, including facilities and live educators.
“Young people process information in a way that’s changing,” said Dr. Wen. “We wanted to make sure that Roo, for example, is available on mobile because we know that’s how most young people are searching for information.”
Teens also like the anonymity of the chatbot, said Gene Liebel, founding partner at Work & Co. “They’re concerned about privacy, and skeptical about anything that seems to lecture or talk down to them or sounds like parents,” he said.
The shop worked with students from the Math, Engineering, and Science Academy, or MESA, a charter high school in Brooklyn, to test various product concepts and chatbot branding, while seeding the artificial intelligence framework with health information.
Roo adds to a number of digital initiatives from Planned Parenthood, including an online-messaging system through which users can connect with trained educators; a period and birth control tracker app called Spot On; and TrackingTrump.org, a website critical of Trump administration policy on women’s health issues.
Planned Parenthood will promote Roo through its education programs and social-media channels, and is planning to do paid marketing later this year.
Write to Alexandra Bruell at alexandra.bruell@wsj.com