"Hi, this is the health office," said the voice on the phone. "Can we kindly take a minute of your time to learn more about your health condition?"

It's not uncommon to receive such a call amid the COVID-19 outbreak, though for some the conversation has had a highly technological element.

Beginning in late March, some residents in South Korea have received such calls not from human beings, but from an artificial intelligence-enabled system.

Launched by the Chinese AI pioneer iFlytek and South Korean software company Hancom, the AI system is designed to help South Korea better track people who have had close contact with confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus.

"The system can improve the efficiency of screening potentially affected people, " said Wu Xiaoru, rotating president of iFlytek. "It can also be used to keep track of the health situation of discharged patients in order to reduce the burden on front-line medical workers."

The move is part of broader efforts by Chinese companies to leverage their technological prowess to help foreign nations in the global battle against the pandemic, as confirmed cases around the world rise dramatically.

By Tuesday, the pandemic had affected over 200 countries and regions, with the number of confirmed cases exceeding 719,000 and total deaths reaching 33,673, according to the World Health Organization.

From AI and 5G to cloud computing, Chinese technology companies are contributing to the world the experiences they have gathered in helping to contain the outbreak in China.

The AI-powered telephone system, for instance, played an active part in China's efforts to control the contagion. According to iFlytek, from Jan 21 to Feb 4, its AI-powered calling system benefited more than 7.67 million people on the Chinese mainland, including those in Hubei province, the region hit hardest by the epidemic, with the system making an average of 800,000 calls per day.

Chinese technology giant Huawei Technologies Co and its partners are also bringing innovative medical solutions to foreign countries. Huawei Cloud, its cloud computing unit, partnered with AI company Huiying Medical Technology to offer AI-enabled auxiliary diagnostic systems to hospitals in Ecuador.