Could an ‘emotional support’ chatbot help me de-stress? Only one way to find out | Arwa Mahdawi

Startups say their AI-powered, therapist-trained bots can help us navigate life's challenges. I decided to put them to the test

For the last several months I have been a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown. We moved to a new house last year only to find the place next door was about to undergo a massive construction project. Since then we've been living with a constant soundtrack of hammering and drilling. I've tried various coping methods - everything from saunas to noise-cancelling headphones to fantasies of revenge - but the noise and dust still raise my blood pressure to dangerous levels every day.

Yet there was one thing I hadn't tried until this week: An emotional support chatbot". Yes, those are a thing now: in our brave new world, where artificial intelligence is seemingly on the verge of disrupting every industry, not even therapists are safe from having their jobs taken by technology. On Tuesday a prominent startup called Inflection AI launched a chatbot called Pi (short for personal intelligence") which is designed to give friendly advice. It's obviously not meant to replace a real-life therapist (not yet anyway), but is pitched as a supportive companion that can help you talk through your problems. The algorithm has been trained by about 600 teachers", including mental health professionals, to be sensitive and conversational.