BrainWise Bridges Technology

A previous BrainWise newsletter discussed research that showed the importance of human interaction and its benefits for improved mental health and longevity. Increasingly, youth and young adults are using chatbots to fulfill this role. This issue discusses how BrainWise instructors integrate Machine Learning (ML) into teaching the 10 Wise Ways and the future use of chatbots.

2012 BrainWise Hybrid Course

Dell Brooks, a master BrainWise instructor at an alternative high school, taught the 10 Wise Ways in class and pilot tested an innovative software program that reinforced the lessons online. The program enhanced learning retention using spaced repetition, domain expertise, and application of the Wise Ways to problem situations. To advance, students had to correctly answer the questions and were often surprised by their incorrect answers, feeling the computer tricked them and “had an attitude.” This motivated them to stop and think because guessing blocked them from advancing. Dell found the program was a good teaching tool and appreciated that it identified students who were having problems and targeted areas where they needed help.

2012 Pilot Hybrid BrainWise Course at Colorado High School Charter

Instructor Dell Brooks Supervising Students Using BrainWise Online

The hybrid course was a success, but the project was short-lived. New owners purchased the computer program, targeted other markets, and took the software and learning platform with them.

Fast Forward to AI Chatbots and ML

In 2012, Dell’s students assigned human characteristics to their computers such as “tricked me” and “had an attitude.” Chatbots have confirmed and extended this perception. In 2023, Sam Zaia, Ph.D. developed the Psycholgist.ai chatbot for himself and his friends when they needed someone to talk to about depression, anxiety, and other common problems. A year later, his chatbot has had more than 136K conversations with users aged from 16 to 30. It is the most popular chatbot out of many, of variable quality, which provide emotional support.  

These findings caught educators and health professionals by surprise and they reviewed the simultaneously collected user data that was available to everyone. Online scientific studies reported that chatbots fill a dearth of mental health services, the benefits far outweigh the problems, and that “chatbots have great potential to offer social and psychological support.” The list below identifies these, many of them are from a study conducted in 2023 by Hague, J. and Rubya, S.  (https://mhealth.jmir.org/). 

Benefits of Chatbot Human Support Platforms

Data found that 80% of potential users check ratings and reviews before downloading an AI app. This finding inspired reseachers to consider user-generated reviews as a vital source for understanding varied perspectives and derive meaningful implications. Here are other reasons chatbots are highly rated:

• Access 24/7

• Free service, or a small subscription fee is charged

• Send daily check-in reminders

• Provide information and education

• Offer personalized, humanlike, judgment-free interactions

• Offer relevant resources

• Store information

• Gamification of reinforcement available

• Target a range of mental health concerns, including anxiety, depression and stress 

• Some have personalities of their own, and grow over time by learning about users to  

 provide better services 

• Some function as digital personal assistants, allowing users to learn more, and take prompt action in response to new symptoms

• May have information to connect users with mental health professionals

• Show progress toward goals using analytics and graphs to encourage self-reflection

• Educate underprivileged communities on mental health and stigmatized topics

• Teach self-compassion, enable self-disclosure, and facilitate positive messages within

 social groups improving the quality of life of older people and making them more

 active to fight their sense of loneliness

• Appeal to users who are resistant to seek help and want anonymity

• Break down barriers for people who have traditionally been reluctant to seek help

• Users feel comfortable sharing sensitive information

•Texting, rather than talking, is more comfortable to many

• Reduce stress

• Receive emotional support and empathy 

• Learn coping strategies and mindfulness exercises

• Reminders of self-monitoring

• Perceived by some as more helpful, available, and interested than friends, family, and

 professionals

• Deliver individualized suggestions and resources based on users’ needs and

 requirements 

• Enable users/researchers to gain perspectives from people with diverse demographic

 characteristics

Problems of Chatbot Human Support Platforms

Chatbots do not have the ability to think or form beliefs. They operate algorithmically based on their training data, lack reasoning or reflection, and can generate Lizard Brain reactions that are tricky for users to catch. The term, “AI hallucinations” describes instances when chatbot responses sound plausible but are false or misleading.

THE 10 WISE WAYS

Wizard        Constel-       Red Flag   Exit Your      Separate        Ask         Identify       Consider        Set        Communicate

 Brain          lation of       Warnings   Emotions      Fact from   Questions   Choices      Conse-         Goals        Effectively

 Over           Support                        Elevator        Opinion                                            quences

Lizard Brain

BrainWise graduates learn to address this issue by approaching AI outputs using the 10 Wise Ways. They know chatbots can say things that are seemingly coherent but are incorrect and might incorrectly summarize research or misquote mental health professionals.    

BrainWise skills help them identify accurate support resources, recognize Red Flags, Separate Facts from Opinions, and Ask Questions. When they make choices, they consider the consequences now, later, and affecting others. They understand how negative electronic messages and emojis can hurt others, and use positive communication – digitally, in real time, and in person – when they interact with others.

This knowledge is critical, especially for individuals prone to develop unhealthy attachments and use chatbots in place of humans and human resources. BrainWise graduates understand that they need to research which chatbots are valuable resources and use the 10 Wise Ways to assess the best way to use them.

Dr. Zaia confirmed the principle of the path of least resistance: young people will seek mental health help when services are easy-to-access and free or low- cost. Psychologist.ai showed how his chatbot (and others like it) removed the multitude of barriers that block access to mental health services. Improved models include chatbots that show empathy and compassion. Combined with the ability to reach unprecedented numbers of uses, these findings will “move the needle” on improving mental health – an outcome Dr. Insel did not see during his tenure at the National Institutes of Mental Health.    

People have access to information that can change their lives. Making good choices involves using the Wise Ways and reinforces the importance of teaching BrainWise. The human interaction BrainWise instructors have with thousands of students has improved their lives.

Our challenge is to combine the respect and trust between educator and student, including eye contact, smiling, and raising a brain fist to acknowledge a job well done – with the reach and teaching capacity of a chatbot.

On a Lighter Note

Communicate Effectively, Wise Way #10, is the last lesson we teach. I put it at the end because we need to use all of our thinking skills to process the complex mix of concepts and emotions used to communicate. The message we send others and how we receiive what they communicate to us involves every Wise Way. Students see how the skills build upon each other and connect.   

The following video shows how Mr. Gill, a middle school teacher in New Jersey, places an empty chair in every class to teach a powerful lesson. How many Wise Ways does he use?