Youthline launches AI assistant

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Picture: Young people attending a YouthLine leadership programme

Youthline has launched a digital assistant powered by artificial intelligence to help respond to more young people in need.

Sam uses conversational AI and natural language processing, including sentiment analysis, to recognise questions and learn from interactions over time.

The assistant can respond to about 200 frequently asked questions related to topics like stress, confidence, self-esteem, anxiety, depression and bullying.  It lives within Facebook’s Messenger platform and on the Youthline website.

Youthline chief executive Shae Ronald says that says the service was inundated by contacts when it first began providing counselling by text message.

Equipped with decades of data about the top issues young people contact the organisation about, Youthline began working on a technologically innovative way to respond to more young people in need in 2018, with the support of the Vodafone Foundation and tech partners JRNY.

“The need to test new ways of interacting with young people and providing good information is so important, especially when you’re dealing with the volume of contacts we receive at Youthline”, says Ronald.

He explains that Sam will not replace the critical human interaction at the heart of what Youthline does, but rather help people connect to the information they are seeking, and to a person, as wanted, more efficiently.

Facebook’s director of policy for Australia and New Zealand Mia Garlick says Messenger chatbots are a simple but effective tool for support services like Youthline to provide scaled, instant access to their programmes in the spaces that young people use most.

“We’re seeing an increased use of direct messaging apps like Messenger, and we commend Youthline for adopting this trend to provide discreet support to young people and instantly equip them with important tools and information when they need it most,” says Garlick.

JRNY chief executive Michael Lovegrove says “it’s no secret that young New Zealanders struggle with their mental health, and we need to do something about it.

“As a company with powerful AI technology, it’s our duty to use it for the greater good and help young New Zealanders to get the help they need.”

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