Will Computers Take Over the Mental Health Sector?

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 Hi everyone! Welcome back <3

A couple of months ago, I had worked on a project in which I used Python to detect facial emotions. During this course, I was introduced to several Machine Learning fundamentals, one of which was 'Natural Language Processing' (NLP).

An example of using NLP was to build a 'Mental Health Chatbot' (MHC)- which led me to to think, 
"Are computers the future in this aspect?"

This post will be more of my take on this topic rather than a general awareness one, so without further ado, let's get to it!

As an aspiring cognitive science student, it is no surprise that AI and Mental Health fascinates me the most. I spend maximum of my time learning about various sectors AI has conquered. A few examples include self- driving cars, detecting facial emotions and music recommender systems.

The reason why 'Mental Health Chatbots' got me thinking because this is one of the few places where humans overpower robots in terms of effectiveness - or so is what I thought originally.

How a MHC works essentially is that a user inputs a sentence and using NLP, the computer breaks it into individual words. It then uses those words to search in its database and then displays a corresponding message. This however, may not be accurate in each context.

My reflections on this are as follows: 
Emotions are human. It is not humanely possible for a robot to understand each and every situation and situation and provide corresponding advice. It says what it is programmed to. Only a human can physically empathize with another human and use the knowledge of phrasing information to fit that situation. This is one part, I believe, AI could not replace.

However, on the contrary, these chatbots might just be a useful invention in helping. Coming from a country like India, I've often noticed the term 'Mental Health' being a highly stigmatized word (also why I started writing my blog - to help destigmatize it!). This stigma has often led to negligence of people's Mental Health which may have led to some serious cases or disorders.

This is where these chatbots might be handy. They provide an IMMEDIATE help. If someone is having a panic attack and can't approach someone, these chatbots possess the mechanisms  to help the person regain stable balance.
A lot of people also use these to talk to when they aren't allowed or scared to ask for therapy.

Overall, I believe that AI will not 100% take over the world when it comes to Mental Health, but will certainly aid it. Therapy will be a very important profession in the upcoming years for humankind to function and has definitely made its stance. 

But just to leave it on a cliffhanger, we never know what the future holds for us...

That was it for today! Hope y'all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Let me know your views and thoughts on this topic in the comments below and don't forget to share and subscribe for more, every Friday!

Signing off,

Kuhu :)

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