VOA健康报道2024--AI Chatbots to Help with Mental Health Struggles

AI Chatbots to Help with Mental Health Struggles

　　From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

　　The mental health chatbot Earkick greets users with a friendly-looking panda that could fit easily in a children's program.

　　When users talk about anxiety, the panda gives the kind of comforting statements that a trained mental health professional, called a therapist, would say. Then it might suggest breathing exercises or give advice on how to deal with stress.

　　Earkick is one of hundreds of free chatbots aimed at dealing¹ with a mental health crisis among young people. But the co-founder² of Earkick, Karin Andrea Stephan, says he and the other creators do not "feel comfortable" calling their chatbots a therapy tool.

　　Whether these chatbots, or apps, provide a simple self-help tool or mental health treatment is important to the growing digital health industry. Since the apps do not claim to diagnose or treat medical conditions, they do not need approval from the Food and Drug Administration (or FDA).

　　The use of AI chatbots

　　The industry's position is now coming under more careful examination with recent developments of chatbots powered by artificial intelligence (AI). The technology uses a large amount of data to copy human language.

　　The upsides are clear: the chatbots are free; they are available 24 hours a day; and people can use them in private.

　　Now for the downsides: there is limited data that the chatbots improve mental health; and they have not received FDA approval to treat conditions like depression.

　　Vaile Wright is a psychologist and technology director with the American Psychological Association. She said users of these chatbots, "have no way to know whether they're actually effective."

　　Wright added that the chatbots are not the same as traditional mental health treatment. But, she said, they could help some people with less severe mental and emotional problems.

　　Earkick's website states that the app does not "provide any form of medical care, medical opinion, diagnosis³ or treatment." Some health lawyers say such claims are not enough.

　　Glenn Cohen of Harvard Law School said, "If you're really worried about people using your app for mental health services, you want a disclaimer that's more direct..." He suggested, "This is just for fun."

　　Still, chatbots are already playing a role due to an ongoing⁴ shortage of mental health professionals.

　　Shortage of mental health professionals

　　Britain's National Health Service has begun offering a chatbot called Wysa to help with stress, anxiety and depression among young people.

　　This includes those people waiting to see a therapist. Some health insurers, universities, and hospitals in the United States are offering similar programs.

　　Dr. Angela Skrzynski is a family doctor in the American state of New Jersey⁵. When she tells her patients how long it will take to see a therapist, she says they are usually very open to trying a chatbot. Her employer, Virtua Health, offers Woebot to some adult patients.

　　Founded in 2017 by a Stanford-trained psychologist, Woebot does not use AI programs. The chatbot uses thousands of structured language models written by its staff and researchers.

　　Woebot founder Alison Darcy says this rules-based model is safer for health care use. The company is testing generative AI models, but Darcy says there have been problems with the technology.

　　She said, "We couldn't stop the large language models from... telling someone how they should be thinking, instead of facilitating the person's process."

　　Woebot's finding was included in a research paper on AI chatbots published last year in Digital Medicine.

　　The writers concluded that chatbots could help with depression in a short time. But there was no way to study their long-term effect on mental health.

　　Ross Koppel of the University of Pennsylvania studies health information technology. He worries these chatbots could be used in place of treatment and medications. Koppel and others would like to see the FDA review and possibly regulate these chatbots.

　　Dr. Doug Opel works at Seattle Children's Hospital. He said, "There's a whole host of questions we need to understand about this technology so we can ultimately do what we're all here to do: improve kids' mental and physical health."

　　Words in This Story

　　chatbot – n. a computer program or character (as in a game) designed to mimic⁶ the actions of a person that is designed to converse⁷ with human beings

　　anxiety – n. an abnormal and overwhelming sense of apprehension⁸ and fear often marked by physical signs

　　diagnose – v. to recognize (something, such as a disease) by signs and symptoms

　　artificial intelligence – n. the capability⁹ of computer systems or algorithms to imitate intelligent human behavior

　　psychologist – n. a person who specializes in the study of mind and behavior or in the treatment of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders¹⁰

　　diagnosis – n. the art or act of identifying a disease from its signs and symptoms

　　facilitate – v. to help bring (something) about

1 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

2 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

3 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

4 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

5 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

6 mimic   

v.模仿，戏弄；n.模仿他人言行的人

参考例句：

• A parrot can mimic a person's voice.鹦鹉能学人的声音。
• He used to mimic speech peculiarities of another.他过去总是模仿别人讲话的特点。

7 converse   

vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反

参考例句：

• He can converse in three languages.他可以用3种语言谈话。
• I wanted to appear friendly and approachable but I think I gave the converse impression.我想显得友好、平易近人些,却发觉给人的印象恰恰相反。

8 apprehension   

n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑

参考例句：

• There were still areas of doubt and her apprehension grew.有些地方仍然存疑，于是她越来越担心。
• She is a girl of weak apprehension.她是一个理解力很差的女孩。

9 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

10 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》