There has been a much-needed increase in awareness of mental health issues in recent years. Due to the rise in reported cases, there are many companies now looking at ways to deal with the numbers.
According to the World Health Organisation, there are more than 300 million people globally suffering from depression, with almost 800,000 people turning to suicide each year. Unfortunately, the demand for specialist help has been met with decreased health care services. Enter, the new age of therapy.
Whilst there is no getting away from the importance of the human touch when it comes to healthcare, the possibilities that chatbots are opening up for the treatment of mental health are fascinating. Chatbots can treat large numbers of people, so long as there is internet connectivity. This already gives them a huge advantage over a human. For those that suffer from social anxiety, talking or texting with a chatbot might be favourable over face-to-face sessions.
Start-ups are increasing investment and focusing more on societal good. These young companies want to leave their mark and champion innovation.
Drawing on their own experiences with mental health, and seeing the gap in the market, programmers Michiel Rauws and Eugene Bann embarked on a quest to shake up the chatbot scene.
Their Silicon Valley based start-up X2AI has created Tess, their psychological AI. It administers highly personalized psychotherapy, psycho-education, and health-related reminders on-demand.
Following years of research, they have used psychology and machine learning to create algorithms that sense how users are feeling. This emotional awareness allows the chatbot to respond accordingly and create an emotional bond to treat them most effectively.
The AI holds actual conversations rather than being a response generating program, like the early ELIZA. X2AI’s Tess is supporting health care professionals in clinics and hospitals across the US and Europe. It provides patients with 24/7 access to therapy support. They’ve also most notably collaborated with organisations and aid agencies in Lebanon to help Syrian refugees cope with their unimaginable situation. The Karim chatbot provides a mental healthcare service in an area where it is not available. In fact, it now has one of the largest structured Arabic conversation data sets in the world.
Similarly, Woebot Labs recently launched the first scientifically-backed mental health therapy chatbot. You can chat with Woebot via Facebook Messenger for a two-week free trial, before then signing up for a $39 a month service. Stanford University researchers published a study showcasing how Woebot was able to help alleviate depression and anxiety over two weeks in its users. Woebot is designed to use word games, mood tracking and conversations to help people deal with their problems.
The rapid advancements in NLP will ultimately make chatbots more personalized and humanlike. These companies are just two examples of many startups that are hard at work using artificial intelligence to make a real social impact.
