Mental Therapists : ChatGPT / Stella : Conceived in 2016

 

Context :

Can chatbots be therapists? Only if you want them to be……………  HT   /  08 Oct 2023

 

Extract :

A manager at artificial intelligence firm OpenAI caused consternation recently by writing that she just had "a quite emotional, personal conversation" with her firm's viral chatbot ChatGPT. "Never tried therapy before but this is probably it?" Lilian Weng posted on X, formerly Twitter, prompting a torrent of negative commentary accusing her of downplaying mental illness.

However, Weng's take on her interaction with ChatGPT may be explained by a version of the placebo effect outlined this week by research in the Nature Machine Intelligence journal.

 

A team from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Arizona State University asked more than 300 participants to interact with mental health AI programmes and primed them on what to expect.

 

Some were told the chatbot was empathetic, others that it was manipulative and a third group that it was neutral.

 

Those who were told they were talking with a caring chatbot were far more likely than the other groups to see their chatbot therapists as trustworthy.

 

"From this study, we see that to some extent the AI is the AI of the beholder," said report co-author Pat Pataranutaporn.

 

Mental health. Disruptors who heed the cry for help.. ………..Bus Line .. ……………………08 Oct 2023  

Extract :

Digital platforms offer to bridge the gap in mental wellness services with a promise of convenience and anonymity

The convenience and anonymity offered by such online counselling platforms makes them more attractive to individuals who may otherwise shy away from seeking mental healthcare owing to the stigma attached. Amaha, MindPeers, Lissun, Wyssa and YourDost are among a host of startups in India that are trying to bridge the gap in mental wellness services

Industry experts forsee a steady increase in demand for such services, given the rising incidence of anxiety-related disorders, depression and work related stress

" United We Care " says its AI powered virtual assistant, Stella, can decipher over 40 different emotions and communicate in 29 regional languages to provide personalized support and guidance to those struggling with mental health issues

Stella can help people with assessments to understand their state of mind, and tasks such as finding a therapist, setting goals, and tracking their progress. She can also provide support and resources for specific mental health conditions. 

Stella can detect mental health issues with 80 % accuracy " says Ritu Mehrortra , CEO and Founder of United We Care 

 

MY  TAKE  :

 

Share - Your - Soul / Outsourcing Unlimited………………… 24 July 2016

 

Extract :

 

#  PRIVACY

    The portal will NOT reveal any info / data ( including Audio-Video recording ) of any user to anyone else.

    However , portal will reserve the rights to subject those Audio recordings ( but not Video recordings ) to

    an Artificial Intelligence ( AI ) software , which can , over a course of time , come up with a SOFTWARE

 

    ROBOT that can take over the role of the HUMAN listeners !  If you have any doubts , ask Ray Kurzweil  !

 

    When that happens , this portal may morph into a PPO ( Psychology Process Outsourcing ) !

   =================================================================

 

With regards,

Hemen Parekh

www.hemenparekh.ai  /  09  Oct  2023

 

Related Readings :

 

Ø  1 Doctor for every 10,000 Mental Health Patients ?.................. 04 Feb 2022

 

Ø  Robot : A Therapeutic Machine ?............................................. 09 Oct 2016

 

Ø  Grieving for a Departed Loved One ? Try AI… …………………………………13 July 2023

 

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Added on 25 Oct 2023 :

The loneliness epidemic: Nearly 1 in 4 adults feel lonely, new survey finds

 If you feel lonely, you’re actually in good company: Nearly 1 in 4 adults across the world have reported feeling very or fairly lonely, a new Meta-Gallup survey has found.

The new survey, taken across 142 countries, found 24% of people age 15 and older self-reported feeling very or fairly lonely in response to the question, “How lonely do you feel?”

The survey also found that the rates of loneliness were highest in young adults, with 27% of young adults ages 19 to 29 reporting feeling very or fairly lonely. The lowest rates were found in older adults. Only 17% of people age 65 and older reported feeling lonely.

Over half of adults age 45 and older reported not feeling lonely at all, while the majority of those younger than 45 answered that they felt at least a little lonely, if not very or fairly lonely.

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Added on 02 Dec 2023 :

A majority of Indian youth have poor mental health and it is affecting their productivity     

More than 50 per cent of the youth (18-24 years old) in India have poor mental health, according to a report by Sapien Labs Centre for the Human Brain and Mind. The report, titled ‘Mental State of India: Internet-enabled Youth’, notes that the mental health of young people in the country has deteriorated during the pandemic.

It showed that 51 per cent of youth were distressed or struggling in 2023, which means they had MHQ less than 0. A negative MHQ signifies that poor mental health is affecting their ability to function. The survey also found that the MHQ was lower in 2023, compared to 2020, across age groups.

However, the youth were the most affected. In 2020, the average MHQ of youth was 28, whereas it dropped to 20 in 2023. The average MHQ of 18-74-year-old people also dropped, but their MHQs were still much higher than youth at 54 in 2023.

While the results suggest that income alone does not explain the poor mental health of youth, the survey cites early age ownership and increased use of smartphones, Covid-19, isolation and fewer social interactions as reasons impacting the mental health of young people.