Source: Radio New Zealand
A telehealth service says AI will help reassure people while they wait to speak to a counsellor. 123rf.com
A telehealth service is bringing in an artificial intelligence screening tool for some of its chat responses, to help deal with an increasing volume and severity of mental health calls.
The new tool, which will be brought in on health chat services like “1737 Need to talk”, would not offer any clinical support, instead gathering information for counsellors, and giving empathetic responses.
Whakarongorau chief support services officer Anna Campbell said the AI would help to reassure people while they waited to speak to a real person, and make things easier for counsellors.
“Holding them while they wait, and then when our counsellor does connect with them it’s really quick because they know who they’re talking to and the reason they’re calling us.
“When someone’s waiting in that queue to speak to us, every moment counts, because they’re in distress.”
Campbell said over the last few years the number of people contacting Whakarongorau had nearly doubled, and people had more complex issues to deal with.
She said people were told straight away that they were talking to AI, and could choose to wait in silence instead.
Psychologist Louise Cowpertwait said the new tool could improve the experience for counsellors and callers.
Cowpertwait said it was a shame that there were not enough counsellors to meet demand, but this was a creative solution to that problem.
“Giving someone something to do while they’re waiting can actually be really important for someone in distress.”
But she said caution was needed when dealing with mental health and AI.
“We absolutely have to be cautious if we’re looking at AI interacting with us when we’re at our most vulnerable.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
