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Here's How A.I.-Backed Tools Can Help With Worker Stress and Mental Health

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  • Companies are turning to AI-powered mental health tools to help workers deal with stress and burnout.
  • Half of workers experience anxiety symptoms and over half of workers have depression symptoms, according to a recent Deloitte survey.
  • While workers want their employers to offer more mental health resources, it may be easier for them to chat with AI chatbots than other humans.

From burnout to layoff fears, rising costs to impending recession, there are plenty of reasons why workers are stressed and want their companies to provide access to mental health resources. One way companies can help is with artificial intelligence.

While employer-provided mental health benefits have been rising over the last few years, mental health continues to be a chronic problem with half of workers experiencing anxiety symptoms and over half of workers having depression symptoms, according to Deloitte's 2022 Mental Health in the Workplace report, which surveyed 3,995 people across 12 industries.

In light of Mental Health Awareness Month, companies need to be intentional about choosing health and insurance plans that offer mental health resources, according to Grace Chang, CEO and co-founder of Kintsugi, a company that developed an AI-backed tool that detects signs of depression and anxiety by listening to someone's voice.

After spending years trying to access mental health resources through her employer-sponsored insurance plans, Chang saw an opportunity to create mental health access using AI.

Chatbots and AI helps with everyday stressors

AI chatbots like ChatGPT can also help employees manage everyday stressors, according to Lucy Roberts, a senior consultant for the national engagement and wellbeing practice at OneDigital, an advisory firm focused on health, wealth and retirement.

"Some individuals just need help with day-to-day stressors, and AI tools like chatbots can point them to on-demand resources," Roberts said. "Chatbots can also be a bridge to connect individuals with employer-sponsored therapy sessions or help match people with clinicians or therapists that are a good fit to their needs."

While mental health continues to face stigma in the workplace, Roberts said it might be easier for people to ask a chatbot for resources available without talking to a HR professional.

Everyday stressors can include issues with time management, home life, or economic uncertainty, she added, which workers carry with them into the workplace, so there's a need for companies to provide employees with tools to help manage these issues. .

"If I can turn to a chatbot and say, 'Hey, I'm struggling, I need help,' and it provides a mindfulness exercise or a reading exercise, it can, in the moment, help lower stress levels," Roberts said. "We also know that AI and machine learning can provide you with the best evidence-based practices, as long as you're using an AI tool that is safe and effective."

As with introducing any new resource or tool to employees, Roberts said companies need to ensure there are necessary guardrails in place for ethical, safe, and accessible usage.

"It doesn't matter what type of solution you put in place for employees, if they don't know how to access it, or they don't know that it exists, they can't use it," Roberts said. "Organizations often have great resources, but employees just don't know that it's available to them or they don't know how to access it, so it's critical to make sure employees are aware of what it is."

AI helps employees get mental health diagnoses

Increased buzz around AI and ChatGPT has jobs in every industry tentatively awaiting disruption. But Kintsugi, Chang said, seeks to eliminate stresses that plague medical professions, like nurses and psychiatrists, trying to provide mental healthcare.

Kintsugi uses a signal processing model, or a model that collects sound for analysis, to detect not the words someone is saying but how they're saying these words to determine if they have anxiety or depression in real time.

"Our application allows people to talk about their challenges and connect with others who may be struggling with the same issues," Chang said. "We've created a voice journaling application, which is used in over 200 international cities, and we've had more than 250,000 downloads for the application."

Using AI to detect mental illness isn't completely new, Chang acknowledged. Previous research used machine learning models and the sound of someone's voice to predict whether they could be categorized in either a depressed or non-depressed state.

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