Conversational Artificial Intelligence (CAI) presents many opportunities in the psychotherapeutic landscape — such as therapeutic support for people with #mentalhealth problems and without access to care.

CAI is a software that simulates conversations with users through #naturallanguageprocessing.

CAI’s overarching aims are to help individuals to learn new skills and techniques, implement them in day-to-day life, and recognise behavioural patterns.

Thereby, methods of psychotherapeutic treatments such as cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), methods from positive #psychology, and #mindfulness are implemented.

Some conversational agents and #chatbots are presented as emotionally intelligent and aim at forming therapeutic alliance with users.

The application of CAI brings also unprecedented challenges and many open questions that need to be inquired to better understand its impact on individuals and society in the long-term perspective.

This is a topic I explore further in my next book – “AI and (Human) Society”.

#followme to learn more 🤝🙏🏼👍

#SocietalAI #positivepsychology #aiforeveryone #trustworthyai #conversationalai #people #society

Today marks World Mental Health Day (10/10/2022).

A year ago (2021), University of Plymouth initiated #research to understand the importance and benefits of #digital and AI-enabled tools to support treatment for #mentalhealth 👏🎉

Checkout this link to learn more :-

AI tools — like Wysa — can help early diagnosis and subsequent treatment for #mentalwellbeing 💭😊

Checkout the link for more information :-

On a personal note, if you or someone you know are experiencing symptoms of anxiety and depression – don’t suffer in silence and consider mindfulness, meditation and even prayer 🤲🏼🙏🏼📿🛐

If you need to talk to someone.. reach out directly to me and I’ll gladly make time to help where I can leveraging my coaching & counselling network 🤝👍

#worldmentalhealthday2022 #aiforhealth #digitalhealthcare #helpeachother

The U.K. is currently facing a shortage of nurses and carers. According to #statistics from January 2020, the NHS workforce gap could reach almost 250,000 by the year 2030.

Research reveals that around 1 in 11 care worker roles are currently unfilled.

Could robots be the answer?

Robotics technology is improving, but its routine use in the home, hospital and care settings could be a long way off.

In the attached photo, ‘Stevie’ (a robot) entertains residents and carries out a range of different (pre-programmed) tasks while at a retirement home.

If this is a glimpse of the future, what role will ‘humans’ play in social care and care homes — across the U.K. and indeed the world? 💭🤔

Are we creating a future where we are heavily dependent on #technology and #robots to boost the emotional and cognitive health of older people, those with dementia, and children with autism? 💭🤔

What will happen to the ‘human touch’ provided by the truly amazing #nhsheroes 👏🎉❤️ without whom so many would be helpless?

It is these types of questions and situations that I will be writing about in my next book about “AI and (Human) Society” — #followme to learn more 🤝🙏🏼

Image credit: Greg Kahn Photography

#SocietalAI #robotsforhumans #futureofhealthcare #socialcare #HRI

Should humanoid robots look ‘human’?

Most examples of #humanoidrobots in the public domain look (in some cases freakishly) ‘human’ whilst others (like Optimus from Tesla) are ‘faceless’.

This is related to the phenomenon known as the “uncanny valley” – if something looks human-like but not believably so, it becomes unnerving, creepy, and even frightening.

In some circumstances, if a #robot is too human-like, it will put off humans it engages and interacts with.

It’s this phenomenon that #humanoidrobot #designers and #engineers need to be mindful of .. especially when considering what function or purpose the #humanoids will serve.

To promote acceptance and use of “social robots” (or “care robots”) the application of lifelike design features has been established as a promising design principle.

The majority of research to date emphasises a high degree of anthropomorphism (human-like traits) with respect to robot appearance and communication to support positive perceptions of robots.

Learn more about the ‘uncanny valley’ in my book “Chapter 4 — Robots, Replicants & Surrogates”.

A preview of the chapter is available below 👇