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Buddy.AI: Mental Health Chatbot
AI Chatbot for Mental Health
Chatbots are an emerging technology that show potential for mental health care apps to enable effective and practical evidence-based therapies.
They were designed to identify mental health problems, track moods, deliver cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and promote positive psychology. Chatbots have been shown to effectively reduce the severity of mental health concerns.
There are at least 10 mental health apps on app markets employing chatbots for therapy, such as Wysa, Youper, Woebot, Replika, etc. with over 500,000 downloads.
Problem: Lack of Trust in AI
Although there were positive reviews and general openness to interacting with chatbots in mental health settings, according to a study with 215 participants conducted on user experience regarding health chatbots by PubMed Central,
41%
of participants reported hesitancy to discuss health matters with a chatbot and half found chatbots untrustworthy.
This points to problems in user perception and experience interacting with chatbots in a mental health setting. How might we improve the user experience with chatbots for mental health support?
According to the National Council for Mental Wellbeing,
42%
of the US population saw cost and poor insurance coverage as the top barriers for accessing mental health care.
25
is the average wait time for a new patient seeking psychiatric care in the United States.
As reported by a study published in JAMA Psychiatry,
days
The Common Wealth Fund states that as of March 2023,
Americans live in areas with mental health professional shortages, with over 8,000 more professionals needed to ensure an adequate supply.
160
million
Fear of judgment, social stigma, and concerns about negative consequences in personal and professional life can also prevent people from openly discussing their mental health issues or seeking help.
Buddy.AI to improve chatbot UX
Mental Health
+
This project was developed with the aim of exploring and improving user experience with chatbots, specifically in the area of mental health & wellness.
When ChatGPT was released, I found myself using it as therapy by confiding and asking for advice from the chatbot. Hence, I wanted to learn more about the user experience regarding chatbot implementation in contexts involving personal & sensitive information such as mental health.
Proposal
My project aims to address these challenges by developing an app that:
The app could also include features such as tracking the user's emotional state over time, providing personalized recommendations for self-care and emotional wellness, and allowing the user to set goals for improving their emotional state.
😊 Detects emotions of the user through the camera
❤️🩹Provides AI chat support to the user based on their emotional state
🐶 Offers a gamified simulation experience for stress relief with AI Pet Avatar
Feature #1
Using facial expression/body language analysis technology to detect emotion of the user through the camera
Feature #2
Provides chat support to the user based on their emotional state, using a similar conversational AI model to ChatGPT, trained in the area of mental health
Feature #3
Gamified simulation experience for stress relief and engagement, featuring an AI Pet Avatar that can be interacted with in real time
Design Coming Soon!
Check out my other featured works:
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