24x7 support chatbots in specialist addiction services | Clayton Axisa

Clayton Axisa, Ph.D. Candidate

The race is officially on. Even though it is irrational to think that intelligent systems can solve everything, chatbots in healthcare are now a subject of growing academic interest. With the recent release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the once hypothetical intersection between automation and addictions is becoming a reality.

Understandably, this has generated interest in how we can use this technology to enhance our everyday lives. Many businesses of all shapes and sizes are trying to see how artificial intelligence fits into their corporate strategy. My doctoral research explores the utility of these interfaces as a prequel to face-to-face psychosocial assistance. It seeks to understand how we could use this as an opportunity to help individuals in Malta that are struggling with addiction.

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Health promotion, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation are usually not well-equipped for 24x7 support. Restrictions like this stifle the chance of carers being active participants in the patient’s care plans. The challenge here is more urgent for people that are weaker than others. COVID-19 has highlighted the importance of improving existing processes, necessitating the adoption of alternative delivery methods to remain accessible. Zoom and other communication platforms made users accustomed to engaging virtually online.

This black swan event has continued to enrich an already technology-motivated population into embracing the benefits of internet interventions – a new pathway that offers many exciting opportunities. Since the journey starts long before the first appointment, the mode of interaction exercised by conversational agents is a compelling starting point for addressing their needs.

Despite the exceptional potential, unchartered territory still needs to be explored. Although most of the literature paints a rosy picture in favour of this step forward, the unknowns are too great to ignore.

As a result, this interest comes with resistance from those who prefer to err on the side of caution. The boundary between the two is a knife’s edge that this project seeks to balance on. To answer these questions, I will assess whether the user’s engagement improves due to the computerised dialogue.

I will also understand what practitioners think about these types of applications. So far, there is an ongoing debate on whether we can leverage such tools at scale to become effective catalysts for change.

By observing intake interviews, my dissertation aspires to build a chatbot that can be embedded on an agency’s website, enabling service users to interact with it outside office hours.

This integration will give practitioners mission-critical information about a situation before they follow up based on the referrals generated overnight.

My findings will enable us to create synergies that bring together the best of both worlds by combining the benefits of humans and machines.