Here is a sneak peek into Chapter 9 of our new book Digital Therapeutics for Mental Health and Addiction: The State of the Science and Vision for the Future (Elsevier Link):

Conversational agents on smartphones and the web

Timothy Bickmore, Teresa O’Leary Khoury College of Computer Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA

In this chapter we discuss how conversational agents can be deployed over the World Wide Web and on Smartphones to provide scalable, automated interventions for mental health education, screening, referral, and treatment, as well as screening, referral, and treatment for addictions. We discuss affordances of these platforms, including low cost, reach, and availability, and how these impact the delivery of services. Smartphones have additional affordances, including anytime, anywhere availability, and integration of data from a variety of sensors to improve the accuracy and timeliness of interventions. Individuals can also feel less stigma when discussing mental health issues with conversational agents, compared to human counselors, making them potentially more approachable and acceptable for many. We also discuss potential safety concerns in using conversational agents for health interventions in general, and mental health interventions in particular. We close by exploring future technology channels for delivering mental health and addiction treatment, including augmented and virtual reality and humanoid robots.