Automating Cancer Genetic Counseling with an Adaptive Pedagogical Agent

Effective communication of genetic risk is increasingly important for prevention and treatment of hereditary cancer syndromes. Many individuals do not have access to genetic counselors, or lack the ability to understand and act on genetic risks, due to the complexity of the information. Automated approaches that incorporate animated pedagogical conversational agents may address these barriers. We describe a pedagogical agent that functions in the role of a virtual genetic counselor that discusses hereditary breast cancer risk and motivates women to obtain breast cancer screening. We report the design and evaluation of two prototypes of the virtual counselor. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of this approach, and the effectiveness in improving breast cancer genetics knowledge, by adapting the virtual counselor's pedagogical strategies to an individual's comprehension based on dynamic assessments and preferences.