On March 20, 2018, Russian Anti-Doping Agency RUSADA gave a presentation at the venue of The Institute of National Anti-Doping Organisations iNADO.
RUSADA Deputy Director General on international cooperation and anti-doping issues Margarita Pakhnotskaya gave a presentation in section “Best Innovations of 2017” for improving anti-doping activities, presenting the new tool - chat-bot Vita.
What is chat-bot?
Chat-bot is software developed on the basis of technologies of machine learning and neuronets. Chat-bot is created and trained for a specific range of purposes by people and for people. Chat-bots in the form of digital assistants inside the messenger perform simple commands (for instance, issuing recommendations) and do a search for the user’s purposes.
Some people think that in the future, chat-bots will supersede or replace search engines and will drastically transform social networks. Currently, chat-bots have been conquering the Internet and the instant messengers. According to analysts, the number of the active users of instant messengers exceeds the numbers of the social networks’ users. Life today is so busy that social networks are lagging behind it in terms of pace and instant responding. For this reason, people are switching to communicating via instant messengers nowadays.
RUSADA’s chat-bot is called Vita. It was developed by Element Lab company and lives in Telegram messenger. The chat-bot is able to determine the permissibility of a drug within 30 seconds, to notify about the latest and relevant news in the area of anti-doping, enables to ask a question directly to a RUSADA specialist, and also ensures quick access to the major legal documents governing all anti-doping activities.
The chat-bot can be used by athletes, their parents, coaches, doctors, and also by any person willing to clarify any information regarding anti-doping.
Vita speaks Russian and English, learns fast, and soon it will be able to answer many questions from athletes, coaches, doctors and parents regarding the doping control rules, ADAMS and other aspects of anti-doping activities.
Chat-bot Vita in Telegram is not the only RUSADA’s tool for preventing doping in sport, which is available for use. Athletes and athletes’ staff frequently use such online platforms as the server for checking drugs list.rusada.ru, mobile drugs checker Anti-Doping Pro developed by Element Lab with RUSADA’s support, and online educational course developed by Triagonal.