• Alibaba, a chinese eCommerce company, announced it is developing natural language processing through machine learning.

Coronavirus testing

• This is the most popoular topic surrounding Voice AI and coronavirus. Researchers have started developing algorithms that could detect if a person is coronavirus-positive from the sound of their voice.
• A startup called Voca.ai started a project which allows people to anonymously record their voice. These samples are sent for analysis, and researchers are saying there is a high probability biomarkers could find a pattern in how coronavirus-positive individuals speak.

AI companies adding Voice AI solutions for call centers

• AI-enabled voice chatbots allow organizations to better manage call center demands. Called "Voice Responders", these chatbots understand natural language and can be communicated with as if they are real persons.
•  [24]7.ai is one of the companies at the forefront of this.

Coronavirus advice

• In China, voice AI chatbots have been used to give health advice to citizens, handle multiple callers simultaneously, create reports and aid in crisis monitoring.

Combatting quarantine loneliness

• BBC wrote an article on the topic of how voice assistants can help fight loneliness and connected this to the current quarantine conditions.