Mental Wellness at Scale (WYSA)
The wellness organisation Wysa (https://www.wysa.com) provide AI Based psychotherapy support. Their results are impressive and well grounded including:
Anxiety and Depression reduced by 28-35% in 28 days
Therapeutic alliances formed in 3-5 days, instead of 4-6 weeks
Highly regulated, with internal safeguards
6 million people helped in 105 countries and a 33% reduction in lost time days
1 billion conversations which 91% report as being helpful
Their platform contains the boundaries and safeguards that you would expect from a platform that provides mental health services, demonstrating what is possible with the right governance.
Feedback highlights that users feel less judged by the AI conversation bot, than a human.
SO WHAT: The theraputic attachment rates are an indication of the level of trust that humans will put into a system that they see as helping and benefitting them. It highlights a constraint in traditionally provided psychotherapy - the availability and connection to the therapist - which delays the effectiveness of the treatment.
Source: Conversational AI for Mental Health: Potential and Risks
