What would you expect from an AI chatbot designed to offer emotional support? Not life-changing advice but not completely useless tips either.
Teacher in Singapore got the latter when they interacted with the chatbot at the Mindline at Work platform -- an online mental health platform with one section especially for teachers, Rest of World, a technology news website reported.
Backed by the Singapore government, the bot is meant to lend a listening ear to overburdened teachers. But it turns out, it's not helping them at all.
Screenshots of conversations, with the bot shared on social media, show how the bot responds to concerns raised. One user told it about their lack of work-life balance, only to hear "that's alright".
Mindy, a teacher interviewed by Rest of World, said she told the bot about her tough week and it just asked her to try some breathing exercises.
“I was like, no, I just want someone to listen!” she the website. “I want to be heard!”
Another teacher, so overburdened that they felt their "brain is going to crack", described the bot as "pretty useless".
“It’s a joke," they said. "It’s trying to gaslight the teacher to say, ‘Oh, this … workload is normal, let’s see how we can reframe our perspective”.
Experts caution that such applications or portals cannot solve mental health problems if they stem from toxic cultures work cultures.
"Mental health apps should only be used to complement therapy and other forms of self-care, such as exercise, healthy diet, and restful sleep," said an article published in Harvard Business Review in 2021.
It added that the best thing employers can do for their workers is to offer them strong health cover at reasonable costs.
"This coverage should include comprehensive mental health care that makes face-to-face therapy with a licensed clinician affordable and accessible," the article said. "A mental health app on its own is not an equal substitute."
"That’s because to date, there isn’t evidence that self-help apps are as effective as therapy or medication in treating mental illness," it added. "But they may be able to help some people better cope with stress and symptoms related to anxiety or depression."
A senior executive for Wysa, the company behind the bot, said teachers should discuss workplace concerns directly with their bosses and the bot could help them prepare for tough conversations.
But teachers are worried that they'll suffer professional consequences if they raise their voice.
One teacher told Rest of World that there were forums where they could speak up but were confronted with lack of response.
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