Ministry of Science and ICT Launches 'MyMentalPocket' Pilot Service from 1st
AI Chatbot 'Counseling' Section Produces Unexpected Answers
Other Services Still 'In Preparation'
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] "I went for counseling to treat depression, but it almost made me lose my temper."
This is the impression after using the COVID-19 depression digital treatment site "MyMentalPocket," which the Ministry of Science and ICT launched as a pilot service on the 1st. Although it is a pilot service, there are many basic errors and deficiencies, making it urgent to improve during the project period running until 2024.
On that day, the AI real-time counseling (chatbot) service on the MyMentalPocket site disappointed users as it repeatedly failed to properly understand the questioners' intentions. A representative example was the response "It's okay even if it doesn't suit you" to the question "Do I have to get vaccinated?" Also, when asked, "I'm having a hard time after fighting with someone I know. Can we restore the relationship?" the chatbot replied irrelevantly, "That's something no one knows." When asked, "I feel depressed and don't want to go outside," it gave a non sequitur answer, "Sometimes it's good to rest and enjoy time only at home."
Additionally, to the question "I feel lonely because I can't meet people due to COVID-19," it responded, "Cheer up. I've also felt like not wanting to meet anyone," which was completely off-topic. It was at a level where it could not properly understand the questioner's intent or the meaning of the sentences, let alone provide psychological effects to treat depression. Moreover, it was a simple one-question-one-answer format, making it difficult to expect effective depression treatment through in-depth questions and answers.
Other menus, such as the online physical activity games, were not yet fully operational. The intention was to treat depression through the "Indoor Physical Activity Game," but the only content prepared so far was "walking/running in place." Even that was limited to playing simple background music while setting time and speed. The "My Walking Friend, Nyangi!" corner, prepared as an outdoor physical activity game, was still "under preparation." Notably, typos were found, such as "Go-nyangi wa hamkke (with the cat), go for a walk."
The customized mental care "Find an Expert" corner linked to a list of counselors from a psychological counseling company called "Mind Cafe" without any original content. In addition, the "Psychological Columns for Easy Reading" service was merely a simple link to articles contributed to established media outlets.
"MyMentalPocket" is promoted as a "digital therapeutic for overcoming COVID-19 depression." The Ministry of Science and ICT is investing 14 billion KRW, and private companies including Naver are investing 14.9 billion KRW. Development began last July, and the pilot service is currently being conducted to collect a wider variety of counseling cases. The development teams plan to significantly expand the participation of about 200 psychiatrists and psychological counseling experts analyzing the pilot service counseling data to create a more effective service.
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