Speak to Woebot, Your AI Therapist
- Admin
- Oct 22, 2019
- 2 min read
Oct. 19, 2019
Developed by a team of enthusiastic Stanford University psychologists in 2017, Woebot is a promising therapy app that provides free, 24/7 service to help coach people suffering from depression and anxiety.
What are Chatbots?
Chatbots are computer programs able to conduct conversations with human beings through a messaging interface.Some of the more advanced chatbots are powered by AI, helping them to solve problems, sending personalized messages and improve their interactions over time.
In 2019, chatbots have become more AI-driven, capable of handling complex human interaction with ease and are now taking over traditional conversational services. Hundreds of brands have created their own bots to create better customer service, and recently chatbot is also developed in the direction of psychotherapy.
Woebot as an Accessible Psychological Tool
Woebot, a chatbot created by Stanford research psychologist Alison Darcy, aims to help users with depression and anxiety. A study conducted by World Bank and WHO indicated that half of the world population lack access to basic health care, and for many more, mental health care is not an option. In sight of people’s need of mental health assistance and limited resources, Woebot is developed as an alternative of therapist. Anyone with a smartphone and an Apple App Store or Google Play account can easily uses the app to deal with mental health issues.
Built using natural language, Woebot doesn’t “understand” what users are saying or respond to specific statements necessarily, but it follows a written script that corresponds to what a conversation with a person would sound like. While users cannot chat with an actual therapist, it can serve as a 24/7 therapy tool which therapy sessions cannot achieve. On the other hand, Woebot emphasizes that language used will shape people’s experience of the world, and thus having conversations through texts help users recognize their anxiety with more preciseness.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
Based on Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), Woebot is programmed to help users with mood management by changing their perspectives of life events. Compared to the endless talking of traditional therapy, conversations applied CBT emphasizes is problem-focused, time-limited, and evidence-based. CBT rests on the assumption that humans feel bad not because of events but because of our perspectives toward those events.
Applying CBT, Woebot provides useful exercises that users could arguably apply even when the bot is not on. For instance, when users cannot cope with anxiety, Woebot will prompt them with questions that help examine the situation, and throughout the conversation, the app will attempt to reframe users’ thoughts and feelings with positivity.
Final Thoughts
Although Woebot provides a free and convenient alternative of therapy session, it still has its limitations. From the user's experience, there are still bugs with its natural language implement, for users often encounter situations which Woebot cannot comprehend their answers. Moreover, it is not an actual person after all, for those who need personal companion, Woebot cannot serve as the solution for their issues. Nonetheless, though it still requires further development, Woebot has shown the potential and future implements of chatbots.
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