International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer and Communication Engineering

Abstract: India’s rural population continues to experience major barriers to quality healthcare, such as shortages of doctors and nurses, poor infrastructure, long travel distances, and limited health awareness. Recent advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Natural Language Processing (NLP), and mobile connectivity have led to the emergence of AI-driven health chatbot as a optimum solution. These chatbots provide basic health support through symptom guidance, health education, appointment scheduling, medication reminders, and mental-health assistance. This paper explores how AI-based health chatbots improve healthcare access in rural India, especially in tribal areas. It reviews current deployments, evaluates their impact on healthcare accessibility and health-seeking behavior, and discusses technological, ethical, and infrastructural challenges. Findings show that when integrated with government health systems and community health workers, AI chatbots can strengthen first-level care, improve health information delivery, and support public health programs. However, issues such as low digital literacy, diverse local languages, poor internet connectivity, and the need for proper clinical supervision limit their effectiveness. The paper concludes with recommendations to scale chatbot-based healthcare solutions across rural India.

Keywords: AI in healthcare, health chatbots, virtual health assistants, rural health, India, telemedicine, digital health services.

Downloads: | DOI: 10.17148/IJARCCE.2025.1411143