Welcome to the forefront of conversational AI as we explore the fascinating world of AI chatbots in our dedicated blog series. Discover the latest advancements, applications, and strategies that propel the evolution of chatbot technology. From enhancing customer interactions to streamlining business processes, these articles delve into the innovative ways artificial intelligence is shaping the landscape of automated conversational agents. Whether you’re a business owner, developer, or simply intrigued by the future of interactive technology, join us on this journey to unravel the transformative power and endless possibilities of AI chatbots.
The eSafety Commissioner’s August report on children and AI revealed that 78 per cent of Australian children and teens aged 10 to 17 use AI assistants and companion tools, with more than half turning to them for personal advice, emotional support, and sensitive life issues.
ReachOut’s personalised tool isn’t about replacing human support, it’s a first step so that young people can access information, tips and be connected with the right support for them, CEO Gary Groves says. PHOTO: skynesher
ReachOut’s personalised tool isn’t about replacing human support, it’s a first step so that young people can access information, tips and be connected with the right support for them, CEO Gary Groves says. PHOTO: skynesher
“Of course young people are turning to AI for mental health support – it’s free, always on and no appointment is required,” ReachOut CEO Gary Groves says.
However many of the AI tools young people are using were never designed with this use in mind and there are risks.
As a nation we are facing a youth mental health crisis and for anyone, let alone young people, navigating what has become a highly fragmented and challenging mental health system can be a frustrating and confusing undertaking.
ReachOut recognised a gaping need and in response has launched a free, anonymous, 24/7 AI-powered chatbot designed to provide mental health and wellbeing support for young people aged 12-25.
Effectively, Ask ReachOut is acting as a bridge to human-led services.
“This isn’t about replacing human support, it’s a first step so that young people can access information, tips and be connected with the right support for them,” ReachOut CEO Gary Groves says.
In developing the technology, ReachOut was very clear that it wanted a version of AI that was for not just for young people, but also co-designed by them, and something that actually helped them in their digital first step.
“I want to be really clear, the biggest worry often with young people is that they need information, they also need to know where to go.
“We built Ask ReachOut, and if you try and think of it as a library, so it has its own evidence-based content that it draws information from.
“So rule number one is, it’s not OpenAI. It doesn’t go to dangerous websites, pulls information, then provides that to a young person – it goes to clinical, evidence-based content, which is really important.
It’s designed to recognise when a young person is at risk.
“So for example, if there are key words mentioned, or in the conversation they talk about being in crisis, straight away our AI will respond by saying, ‘we are not the service for you, you need to talk to Lifeline or Kids Helpline, or perhaps Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander crisis support line 13YARN, QLife or Butterfly Foundation, for example, and here’s what to do, and here’s the number’.
“So we don’t engage in long conversations like other AIs, do – our purpose is to get them in and out as quick as possible, and we don’t pretend to be their friend.”
Groves says one of the most important things his organisation did when co-designing Ask ReachOut with young people was to ask ‘what happens if you want to talk to a human?’
“So in the ecosystem, we give the young person an option. If they feel like they need to then progress and talk to a human, we will connect them to one of our national partners, or they can talk to our internal peer chat, which is staffed by real people with lived experience, and they can have that chat.
“So it’s really giving them that triage, those options, and that content to help them in the moment when they need it the most.”
The CEO is the first to acknowledge that there are significant risks with AI tools if they’re not managed appropriately.
“I think it’s really clear that a general chatbot is built to keep you talking and to keep you happy … no matter what platform you’re using, their job really is to keep you in their own ecosystem.
“It’s not built to notice when someone’s at risk. It’s not built to say, ‘you need to talk to a human now’, it’s not built to deeply understand a young person’s mental health issues.”
Some of the tools we agree with will often include whatever a young person says, Groves shares, and that can be absolutely dangerous.
“We often say the risk isn’t AI, the risk is AI with no clinical thinking or safeguards that sit behind it to help a young person when they need it the most.”
For most young people AI is becoming part of the furniture for them now.
“They’re using it for homework, for drafting messages, for trying to get quick answers once they’ve Googled a certain topic.
“I think it’s increasingly being used because it’s always on, and young people don’t feel like AI judges them, but at the same time they’re getting answers straight away.
“So it’s a big part of a young person’s appeal to getting information quick and fast. I think we acknowledge at ReachOut very clearly that it does have its negative consequences, but we also need to acknowledge that young people are using it. So how do we make it be used for good?”
Research suggests young people are increasingly seeking advice and confiding in AI as well.
Groves says young people are telling his organisation that they’re talking to AI about anxiety, about the fact they’re not sleeping, their relationship issues, their friendship issues.
“They’re talking to AI at two o’clock in the morning, because AI is the only interface that they can get some feedback on why they’re feeling the way they feel.”
A lot of them, he shares, are seeing it as the first place to go to before they even talk to a friend, a parent or even their GP.
“So it’s not something we often say we should panic about because it does tell us that young people want to talk and they’re seeking out, ‘why do I have these high levels of anxiety at two in the morning?’
“I think the question is, ‘who’s there to help them with that conversation after their first interaction with AI?’”
Staff
Grant is the managing editor at EducationHQ.
Just another technophobe research undertaking. There needs to be research done on how many teachers actually use tech…
— Dean Gowing on Digital Devices Under Scrutiny: Teachers Report Student Distraction, Off-Task Behaviour
Poems are like trees. You notice them only when they're gone.
Politicians have been told to stay away from public schools after a premier made “grubby and ill-informed” comments over the renaming of a Christmas event.
A fix for a territory’s child protection system cannot be viewed in isolation from poverty and inadequate housing when it comes to the drivers of family violence, Aboriginal advocacy groups say.
A new study has called into question the effectiveness of social and emotional learning programs and how they are being delivered in Australian primary schools, finding clear evidence of ‘null or mixed’ student outcomes.
The Albanese and Carroll Labor Governments have signed a long-term agreement to fully fund Victorian public schools, however union leaders have described a delay of part of Victoria’s contribution until 2031 as “unfair”.
The Victorian Government’s announcement that it is extending the state’s mobile phone ban to include smart glasses and wearable devices in all schools – government, Catholic and independent – has not been met with universal support.
UNSW academic Dr Ayesha Jehangir has offered practical classroom advice to teachers and school leaders on how they can deal with the news surrounding the terrible attack on MP Helen Haines in Wangaratta on Monday.
Artificial intelligence is accelerating the online radicalisation of Australians, federal police have warned, as the country grapples with the worst attack on a politician in more than 30 years.
Monday’s devastating attack on independent MP Helen Haines has left most of us deeply distressed and pondering how such a thing could happen in this country, but it has also left educators nationwide deciding how to approach the incident, it’s ram…
Early mornings and long Sunday evenings making up for lost preparation time are pushing teachers to the brink, a union warns.
Australia: +61 3 9229 6200
35-37 Melville Road, Brunswick West VIC 3055 Australia
PO Box 250, Brunswick West VIC 3055 Australia