A lot of people do not seek help for issues such as anxiety and depression due to different reasons. Visiting therapists may be shameful for some, while the costs of therapy are also a barrier for others. Depression unfortunately is now the world’s leading cause of ill health and disability (Entis, 2017). Half of people experiencing symptoms do not receive proper care and in countries with lower incomes this number is around 80 to 90%. But what if we can use AI to reduce these numbers?
Researchers at Stanford University have developed a Facebook chatbot offering an interactive form of therapy. The ‘Woebot’ follows a series of predetermined steps to identify unhealthy ways of thinking and uses psychological insights and natural language technology to interact and deliver empathy just as a human therapist would (Knight, 2017). This could be helpful, especially for younger people and students, who are increasingly suffering from mental illnesses. As this generation has fewer reservations using internet and social media, a virtual therapist would be more helpful than going through self-help (work)books for instance.
Although virtual therapists tend to be unskillful in their answers, tests done with Woebot suggest this virtual therapist is relatively good at handling this issue. It understands a wide range of answers and guides the user through the process in a conversational manner. This aspect is crucial, as most people dealing with some issues primarily seek an environment in which they could talk and get someone to listen to them. In a study published by the developers, they found that Woebot has been able to reduce symptoms of depression in students over a period of two weeks.
However, the researchers do advise to seek help from a real person as the technology would work best combined with help from a real person. I think it is interesting to see what developments on this area will deliver in the future as the AI language advances. What are your opinions on virtual therapists, would you recommend someone to use it or not, and why?
References:
Knight, W. (2017). Andrew Ng Has a Chatbot That Can Help with Depression [online]. Retrieved October 22, 2017 from https://www.technologyreview.com/s/609142/andrew-ng-has-a-chatbot-that-can-help-with-depression/
Entis, L. (2017). Depression Is Now the World’s Most Widespread Illness [online]. Retrieved October 22, 2017 from http://fortune.com/2017/03/30/depression-rate/
Hi Terrence, I had never heard about this topic before tonight but it seems like something that could be useful for many people! I think it’s true that some people experience going to an actual therapist as a big step and maybe some experience with a virtual therapist would make taking this step easier for them. Also, if the robot can accurately identify symptoms of mental health issues this could help people who think their problems are not bad enough to go to a therapist to realize that they do have real problems. However, like you said in your blog, I think it is always a good idea to see a real therapist on top of using this robot. Therefore, I feel like this chat robot is not a therapist, but more of a first step for getting into therapy with a real person. I think a downside of the Woebotl could be that if it misses symptoms of a certain person and declares that this person does not have a mental health problem, he or she could value the robots opinion too much and not go to a psychologist even though this might be highly advisable. Therefore, I would personally rather advise someone to go to a human psychologist than to use this bot. However, I still think the Woebotl could be a very positive addition to society, as long as we’re very careful with its advices and opinions because they are influencing peoples lives and their health.
Thanks for the article, Terrence. Good to know there’s a virtual therapist like this who can offer help to people who suffer from depression. In my opinion, I believe and do agree that people can seek help from those virtual therapist, but only as a short-term solution. For long-term therapy and people who are experiencing severe depression or other mental health issues, they should definitely contact a real therapist for suggestions and advice.
As your article has pointed out already, the study has shown that Woebot is able to reduce the symptoms of depression among students, which is surely a good thing. I have seen other articles online that also indicate the same or similar result like this one. An article from TechCrunch for example, says a recent published study found that the VR therapy alone was as good as a combination of drug therapy and VR therapy.
However, I think there’re several concerns I have regarding such VR therapy. First is its effectiveness, there is more and more research been carried out to find out whether a virtual therapist is really as useful as a real therapist. It is still controversial topic and its clinical effects are hard to determine. Secondly, the potential side effects are not clear. For a robot who has predetermined steps to do the counselling, it is risky that it doesn’t have any side effects on the patients. What if the advice it gives makes the patient’s condition even worse?
Clearly, everything has its good and bad. I believe there will be more data and research to back up Woebot and other VR therapist’s effectiveness and usefulness in the future. For now, I still think a professionally-trained therapist should be the right person to go if someone suffers from long-term mental health issues. VR therapist definitely has its benefits and could be widely used someday.
Reference:
Senson, A. (2016, January 06). Virtual Reality Therapy: Treating The Global Mental Health Crisis. https://techcrunch.com/2016/01/06/virtual-reality-therapy-treating-the-global-mental-health-crisis/
Hi Terrence,
Very interesting and slightly scary article. I am not sure what to think about a virtual therapist yet, and I am not sure if I would trust a chatbot to deal with any issues that I would have. So, I wonder if this is going to appeal to many people.
Of course, there is the aspect of shame and uncomfortableness to go a human therapist, but it is the question if people would feel comfortable talking to a chatbot.
I also wonder how they managed to deliver empathy when they are using predetermined steps to get to the problem. But it is interesting to keep an eye on the developments of this virtual therapist.
Interesting article!
While it’s pretty common to have chatbots working in the customer service industry (such as on Facebook’s messenger or webshops), I haven’t really heard of a chatbot that essentially replaces a therapist. Like you mention in your article, this can be a great source of help to some who feel ashamed regarding their issues, or suffer from problems such as anxiety. This might deter them from seeing an actual human therapist. This virtual chatbot could help these people overcome their fears and nudge them to see a therapist. However, it could also backfire; some people might become too dependent on the chatbot, and refrain from seeing a therapist altogether which won’t actually help them in overcoming their issues. Therefore, it’s better to introduce this chatbot only to people who are already seeing a therapist, as an extra help. This will prevent people from becoming too dependent on the chatbot itself.
Hi Terrence,
I think this would be an important solution for many people. Especially for the ones who are afraid to see a therapist in the first place. Although, you say that this will not eliminate the role of the therapist for now, do you think this is also the case for the future? And do you think that the education system for psychologists needs to be adjusted?
Thanks!
Tara
I think a chatbot can be a good complement to traditional therapy. Especially for people who do not have direct access to a therapist or are reluctant to consult a therapist. I recently wrote a blog post about the power of chatbots. In the future there might be chatbots available that can imitate the personality of an actual person. Thus, it might be possible to further improve the chatbot therapy and make it more personal.
Check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGcKu3SYx9A. A software developer used saved text messages and chats to build a chatbot which is able to communicate in natural language. It basically is like talking to a friend. She even took it further and programmed the chatbot to generate new content which the person never said using the vocabulary and tone of voice. It is a digital avatar that connects to family and friends and can act as oneself by generating new content which you actually never said but the chatbot uses your vocabulary and tone of voice. This way the chatbot is intended to capture your personality.