Can Artificial Intelligence Heal Human Hearts? A randomized controlled trial on the effects of internet cognitive behavioral therapy with artificial intelligence on depression (Japanese)

Mirai So, Yoichi Sekizawa and Yoshitake Takebayashi

Discussion Papers (Japanese) from Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI)

Abstract: Background: In spite of recent high expectations of internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (iCBT), iCBT still holds limitations including effect sustainability, function improvement, and dropout. Therefore, we focused on iCBT-AI in which automatic feedback by text or animation expressing empathy or indicating instruction is given to users with respect to their input after analysis conducted by a natural language processing (NLP) system, which is one area of artificial intelligence (AI). Since there is no evidence of iCBT using AI technology so far, we evaluated its effectiveness. Methods: 1,187 participants recruited from the website were randomly assigned into three groups; iCBT-AI, conventional iCBT without AI, and waitlist as control. Those allocated to interventional arms were encouraged to perform each exercise at least once a week for seven weeks. The primary outcome was moderate-to-severe depression defined as a PHQ-9 score of 10 or higher. Intention-to-treat analyses were performed. Results: The dropout rate was significantly lower in iCBT-AI than iCBT (p Conclusion: Although iCBT-AI has no significant short-term antidepressant effect, iCBT-AI seems to have an exclusive potential to reduce moderate-to-severe depression in the future. Further research is required.

Pages: 25 pages
Date: 2016-11
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