AI Voice Coach Could Be Useful For Mental Health Treatment

News Desk

Islamabad: A recent research study offers encouraging evidence that virtual therapy can play a role in filling the gaps in mental health care.

The study, which was the first to test an artificial intelligence (AI) voice-based virtual coach for behavioural therapy, found changes in patients brain activity along with improved depression and anxiety symptoms after using Lumen –an AI voice assistant that delivered a form of psychotherapy.

The results are published in the journal Translational Psychiatry and further state that waitlists and disparities in access are often hurdles that patient, particularly from vulnerable communities, must overcome to receive treatment.

“With skyrocketing rates of anxiety and depression and a shortage of practitioners, there has been an extraordinary surge in demand, particularly in the wake of COVID,” said University of Illinois Chicago Professor of Psychiatry Dr Olusola A. Ajilore.

“Technology of this nature might act as a link. It’s not meant to take the place of conventional therapy but it could be a crucial bridge before someone seeks out treatment,” Dr Olusola added.

The researchers recruited over 60 patients for the clinical study, exploring the application’s effect on mild-to-moderate depression and anxiety symptoms and activity in brain areas previously shown to be associated with the benefits of problem-solving therapy.

Two-thirds of the patients used Lumen on a study-provided iPad for eight problem-solving therapy sessions, with the rest serving as a ‘waitlist’ control and receiving no intervention. After the intervention, study participants using the Lumen app showed decreased scores for depression, anxiety, and psychological distress compared with the control group.

The Lumen group also showed improvements in problem-solving skills that correlated with increased activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, a brain area associated with cognitive control. Promising results for women and underrepresented populations were also found.

“It’s about reorienting people’s perspectives on issues and effective solutions, as well as preventing emotional overload,” stated UIC Professor of Medicine Dr Jun Ma.

“It is a well-established, pragmatic, and patient-driven behaviour therapy, making voice-based technology a natural fit for its delivery,” Jun further added.