(2018-03-23) The Freud Apps Ai Virtual Life Coaching And The Future Of Psychotherapy

The Freud Apps: AI, Virtual Life Coaching (CoachBot), and the Future of Psychotherapy | Big Think

The mobile App Mindbloom, for example, is a social gaming platform that enables users to motivate each other to improve their behavior, reach their life goals and generally be more successful in life

Researchers have also been developing ‘therapy’ programs for mobile phones to help users deal with anxiety and depression.

Studies have shown that virtual coaches are effective in helping users change their behavior

animated, virtual coach providing personalized feedback

87.1 percent of the participants using a virtual coach reported feeling guilty if they skipped an online appointment.

Experiments have shown that even very simplistic AI systems can simulate a ‘psychotherapy’ situation that is perceived as realistic by users. The earliest such experiments have been performed at the MIT in the 1960ies with the chatbot ELIZA.

Mobile-based AI systems could even be integrated with devices worn directly on the body – similar to Nike’s Fuel Band - measuring our activity levels and our biofeedback information.

Interacting with ‘humanized’ technology in the context of therapy and coaching will turn our devices into ‘identity accessories’: they will become tools to actively sculpt our behavior and identity.

A new category of ‘living’ technology will emerge, taking on new roles as companion, confidant, and ‘friend’. These artificial intelligences will be with us whenever we need them, keeping us company, supporting us, and making us feel secure and cared for in an increasingly complex and erratic world.

If doctors start using therapy apps as part of medical treatment, it will also raise new questions regarding their accreditation.

Max Celko is a Researcher of the Hybrid Reality Institute, a research and advisory group focused on human-technology co-evolution, geotechnology and innovation