health measures, remains a significant challenge.
According to the Japan Inochi no Denwa Renmei
(Inochi no Denwa Renmei, 2024), which operates a
consultation dial for people suffering from loneliness
and anxiety, there were over 540,000 telephone
consultations nationwide in 2022. However, due to a
lack of manpower, it is reported that calls are difficult
to get through. Another reason why the number of
counselors has not increased is that they have to pay
the cost of attending a training course that takes more
than one year to become a counselor.
According to DataM Intelligence (DataM
Intelligence, 2023), the global mental health apps
market reached US$5.1 billion in 2022 and is
projected to reach US$14.2 billion by 2030, growing
at a CAGR of 14.1% during the forecast period of
2023-2030. These are driven by factors such as the
increasing prevalence of mental health disorders and
rising smartphone usage. In particular, the integration
of artificial intelligence and machine learning
technologies is expected to boost demand for mental
health apps market trends.
Based on the above, this study aims to develop a
stress management AI chat system that can connect
clients and counselors and support counseling
operations. By developing this system and
conducting user evaluations, we aim to confirm the
effectiveness of the proposed method and contribute
to the research and development of mental health care
AI that can handle stress in an engineering manner.
This paper presents the results of the preliminary
experiment focusing on the construction of a chat
system. The preliminary experiment was conducted
for about three weeks in March 2024, and the results
of the analysis of the data collected in the system are
discussed for the main experiment scheduled to be
conducted in July 2024 or later.
2 RELATED WORK
2.1 Effectiveness of Text Chat
2.1.1 Consultation Through SNS
According to the interim report (Nagano Prefecture,
2017) on the consultation on bullying, etc. using
LINE by Nagano Prefecture and LINE Corporation,
in August 2017, as part of the "Collaborative
Agreement on Measures against Bullying and Suicide
of Children Using LINE," consultation on bullying,
suicide, etc. was conducted for junior high and high
school students using LINE. As a result, a total of 547
consultations were received from 390 junior and
senior high school students in Nagano Prefecture
through the "Don't Worry Alone @ Nagano" account,
which was opened for two weeks from September 10
to 23, far exceeding the 259 telephone consultations
received in the previous fiscal year. This indicates
that there is a certain level of demand and
effectiveness in text-only chats. However, text-based
communication via SNS has limitations in terms of
communication, and the need to switch to telephone
counseling to continue the counseling has been
identified as an issue.
2.1.2 Online Disinhibition Effect
Suler (Suler, 2004) states that the hurdle to self-
disclosure is greatly reduced in text-based online
consultations. Online deinhibition refers to a
phenomenon in which inhibitions against behavior in
normal face-to-face situations are relaxed or
disappear on the Internet. The reasons for this are
listed below.
▪ Because it is anonymous, there is a sense of
security that individuals will not be identified
even if they confess their secrets.
▪ Because the facial expressions and tone of
voice are not transmitted to the other party in
text-based communication, the embarrassment
of having one's emotional reactions known
when confessing a secret is reduced.
▪ The fear of rejection is reduced because the
counselor is not visible.
2.2 Mental Health Care Apps
This section presents a selection of Japanese mental
health care applications that are similar to SMACS
and have more than 100,000 downloads.
2.2.1 Self
The SELF app (SELF, 2024) is an application in
which AI understands and comprehends the user's life
through natural conversation, and adapts to the user's
needs such as mental care, stress care, life logs, and
information suggestions. The seven AI characters
implemented in this application not only have
different personalities, but also change the content of
their conversations, allowing the user to select the
character that best suits his or her needs. The
application has many functions to support the user's
mental care. For example, the application can analyze
the user's characteristics, strengths and weaknesses,
and objectively communicate them to the user during
the conversation with the AI, and can suggest articles
based on the user's interests and concerns.
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