![]() 7 The study authors wrote: “The number of participants reporting that the bot felt empathic is noteworthy, and comments that referred to the bot as ‘he,’ ‘a friend,’ and a ‘fun little dude’ suggest that the perceived source of empathy was Woebot rather than the bot’s developers.” 7 6 And they work: According to findings from a 2017 study by investigators from Stanford University School of Medicine and the developers of the aptly named “Woebot,” the bot was effective in reducing depression and seen as empathetic among college students after just 2 weeks of therapy modeled after cognitive behavioral therapy, a well-known method employed by many human therapists. More than 40 different kinds of mental health chatbots exist, mostly focused on treating depression or autism. They are already helping in many situations. They can be available to talk 24/7 and could be infinitely scalable, providing help to millions more people. ![]() It is a powerful technology that will continue to be used in more areas, but how can it be applied to children’s mental health? Enter AI chatbots: programs designed to carry on realistic text- or voice-based conversations with patients and offer advice. Can artificial intelligence (AI) help alleviate some of these problems?ĪI, more broadly, is already “transforming the world,” 5 and has found uses reading CT scan images, powering autonomous vehicles, assisting with national defense, and more. 2 At a time when health care professionals are stretched thin, access to child psychiatry 2 is at an all-time low, and the inequities of our health care system have been made clearer than ever. Yet with such a high demand for doctors, there are only approximately 8300 practicing child psychiatrists in this country. A study published in The New England Journal of Medicine reported that a fifth of deaths among children and adolescents in 2016 were suicides. 3 This is resulting in far too many tragic outcomes. More than 4 million children and teenagers have been diagnosed with anxiety, and nearly 2 million have been diagnosed with depression, according to a study published in The Journal of Pediatrics. More broadly, an estimated 15 million children in the United States 2 alone are in need of a psychiatrist. An estimated 7.7 million children 1 have at least 1 mental health disorder, and half are not receiving the treatment they need. It is clear that far too many children are having trouble coping with the stresses of daily life. Mental health issues among children are growing at a dangerous rate, and it is important that we use all of our innovative technologies to help them. However, children today face countless sources of stress: academic pressure, schedules crammed with activities, lack of sleep, bullying, family instability, world events, social media, and more.
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