Think about how much time you spend on your social media each day. Social media was expected to facilitate connectivity between people and be a solution for isolation and loneliness. However, the opposite has happened (Bird 2018). Nowadays, people are spending more time on their phone than actually socializing. Moreover, social media is mirroring a perfect world, which can lead to people comparing their lives and feeling dissatisfied.
Experts are now looking at possibilities of using AI in order to counter this negative effect. Additionally, AI could help with getting more people treated. The amount of people suffering from a mental illness is growing, yet only a small group is getting the treatment they need. Waiting lists for therapy sessions are long and other people do not seek help due to the costs. However, currently AI is mostly a supporting system for mental healthcare. AI can assist current therapists, making it possible for therapists to treat more people (Stix 2018).
An example of AI used in mental healthcare is ‘Tess’, which is a mental health chatbot. Tess is an instant messaging application through WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, SMS and web browsers. Tess provides personalized mental health care services, such as cognitive behavioural therapy, coaching and psychotherapy. She evaluates how people are feeling with an emotion algorithm and recognizes when there is a downward trend. The emotion algorithm is combined with a natural language processing algorithm, enabling Tess to understand what a person is talking about (Berman 2016). Moreover, Tess does not use pre-selected responses, she is designed to react to shifting information. She remembers what people say and is able to mention it again at a later time. When she thinks the mental illness becomes more severe, she will connect you to a therapist (Gionet 2018)
Tess is available at all times and users do not have to pay an hourly fee, which could lead to many more people seeking help. However, it still has its practical limits; personal contact and the connection between patients and therapist is an important aspect of the success of a treatment.
The question remains what effect these chatbots will have in the future, when AI might not be used as a ‘’partner’’ of a therapist, but as the therapist itself.
References:
Berman, A. (2015). Bridging the mental healthcare gap with Artificial Intelligence. [online] Singularityhub. Available at: https://singularityhub.com/2016/10/10/bridging-the-mental-healthcare-gap-with-artificial-intelligence/ [Accessed 30 Sep. 2018].
Bird, R. (2018). AI soon to be your best friend and mental health therapist?. [online] Hewlett Packard Enterprise. Available at: https://www.hpe.com/us/en/insights/articles/ai-soon-to-be-your-bff-and-mental-health-therapist-1802.html [Accessed 30 Sep. 2018].
Gionet, K. (2018). Meet Tess: The mental health chatbot that thinks like a therapist. [online] The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/apr/25/meet-tess-the-mental-health-chatbot-that-thinks-like-a-therapist [Accessed 30 Sep. 2018].
Stix, C. (2018). 3 ways AI could help our mental health. [online] weforum. Available at: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/03/3-ways-ai-could-could-be-used-in-mental-health/ [Accessed 30 Sep. 2018].
