But for a few thousand people, the mental health support they received wasn’t entirely human.
About 4,000 people got responses from Koko at least partly written by AI, Koko co-founder Robert Morris said.
Academics, journalists and fellow technologists accused him of acting unethically and tricking people into becoming test subjects without their knowledge or consent when they were in the vulnerable spot of needing mental health support.
“There are millions of people online who are struggling for help.”There’s a nationwide shortage of professionals trained to provide mental health support, even as symptoms of anxiety and depression have surged during the coronavirus pandemic.
In June, the World Health Organization included informed consent in one of its six “guiding principles” for AI design and use.