Trial of a Voice-Based Generative AI Emotional Support Companion

This arm got access to the AI-based emotional support app

Sonia is a commercially available voice-based application built around a real-time conversation with a voice generated by artificial intelligence (AI). The application first assesses the user's situation during the initial session and uses this information to create a ''case conceptualisation''. This conceptualisation guides the content and structure of subsequent sessions and is continuously updated as new information emerges. Each of these subsequent sessions is structured around the five standard cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) building blocks (a mood check, collaborative agenda setting, review of between-session practice, introduction and rehearsal of a specific technique, and a homework assignment). Technically, Sonia uses a reasoning model to create and continuously update the ''case conceptualisation''. The model is prompted to draw on its learned knowledge base when creating or updating the conceptualisation.

This group received web-based psychoeducational material

The material consisted of a summary of publicly available information published by the WHO.

The Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) is a 7-item self-report measure of generalised anxiety symptoms, with scores ranging from 0 to 21 and higher scores indicating greater symptom severity (see Spitzer et al. 2006).

Answers to a survey question asking wether the intervention feels safe relative to traditional AI-chatbots (yes/no). If participants answer no, they are asked in an open-text box to explain their reasoning. Summaries of these answers will also be reported.