Artificial Intelligence Therapist (Zena)

Zena is a mental health chat bot that uses artificial intelligence to simulate therapeutic conversations. A variant of the GPT model will be employed, fine-tuned with input from professional therapists. Zena offers a unique combination of technology and therapy techniques, which allows users to engage in text-based conversations. The chat bot will share qualities of that of a therapist but cannot ultimately be a therapist and thus Zena will serve as a supplemental tool to aid individuals in managing stress and mental health.

There will be two options in which subscribers are able to select. One is ‘Rant Mode’ wherein Zena is a non-judgmental listener, enabling users to simply vent and express their feelings and emotions without feeling embarrassed but rather understood and validated.
The other is ‘Guidance Mode’ wherein Zena provides proactive responses, assisting users to navigate their issues through therapeutic techniques (this will be tuned in the training data via professional therapists).

To ensure that the experience of users is tailored accordingly, users will initially complete a voluntary assessment at the beginning. This will aid Zena in understanding the user’s personality, stressors, and current coping mechanisms and hence Zena will adjust to become more personalized to them.

Also, Zena will have protocols set in place that ensure the safety of its users. In regards to high-risk situations, for example, an individual expresses suicidal thoughts, Zena will guide the user to appropriate help and redirect them to emergency helplines. We also will have a strict cybersecurity team to prevent outside personnel obtaining data of our subscribers.

Ultimately, we envision Zena as an empathetic AI companion that supports the mental wellbeing of all its users whenever and wherever they need it.