GENERATIVE PRACTITIONERS

Next-gen AI chatbots alleviate overburdened health systems

This article contains elements of our Health & Wellbeing Industry Update, detailing what GENERATIVE PRACTITIONERS encompasses, why the trend is relevant now, which brands are driving the movement and — of course — your key takeaways.

TrendWatching publishes 15 Industry Updates every quarter, each featuring an industry-specific trend and exclusively available to members of Amplify, our Trend Intelligence Platform.

Log in here if you're already a member, or explore the platform's benefits and features here.

Are you prepared to work with healthcare chatbots? 🤖

The rise of generative AI has sparked a rapid advancement in AI chatbots, with 2023 seeing a whopping 1,480% YoY surge in apps published that mention 'AI Chat' or 'AI Chatbot' in their names or descriptions.

While some chatbots act as virtual pals and others write reports, a new wave of chatbots is emerging to aid overstretched health services worldwide. These chatbots help both patients and practitioners find relevant information through accessible channels and in an empathetic tone of voice.

Why now?

During the pandemic, the demand for (mental) health support surged, leading to the emergence of accessible, cost-effective AI therapy chatbots like Woebot. The soaring popularity of generative AI has resulted in a new wave of both specialized and general-purpose AI companions fielding health-related questions — Snap’s My AI received over 10 billion messages in two months, including 2 million conversations about healthy meals.

🔴 Concerns: Risks accompany the rapid growth of AI chatbots. A decade ago (!), the movie Her warned about the dangers of developing emotional attachments to AI, a concern that resurfaced more recently with Caryn.AI. AI chatbots rely on human-fed algorithms, which can lead to biased and unethical conversations. There are also safety and privacy worries.

🟢 Opportunities: As people turn to AI chatbots for health-related assistance, it's time to view them as a valuable asset in the professional care mix. While ChatGPT passed the US medical licensing exam, bots can make mistakes. To ensure optimal care, AI must be combined with human expertise. Can you develop AI chatbots that alleviate the burden on practitioners rather than replacing them?

Diem

AI-powered ‘social search engine’ meant to feel like a friend's group chat

Launched in the US in May 2023, Diem is a social search engine that combines AI with the collective knowledge of women and non-binary individuals to provide casual health information tailored to their specific needs. Diem allows users to ask and answer questions within a supportive community, while AI analyzes those interactions to generate comprehensive and relevant answers. Designed for people in their mid-twenties to early thirties, Diem aims to be a centralized platform for easily searchable information with a personal touch.

Pāṇini

Doctors develop AI chatbot for evidence-based decision-making

Pāṇini, an AI-powered chatbot developed by doctors for doctors, was officially launched in the presence of over 250 clinicians across India in June 2023. The chatbot, developed by digital healthcare platform DocPlix, aims to empower clinicians with cutting-edge technology to improve accuracy and reduce medical judgment errors. Pāṇini's advanced capabilities include rapidly computing different diagnoses, drawing from a diverse set of medical knowledge and simplifying complex computations. The chatbot is built on a foundation of evidence- based medical literature and peer-reviewed algorithms, allowing clinicians to make informed decisions.

Limbic

AI chatbot identifies mental health conditions with 93% accuracy

In January 2023, UK-based Limbic announced that its AI mental health chatbot, Limbic Access, achieved Class IIa UKCA (UK Conformity Assessed) medical device certification. The chatbot can be safely incorporated to support patient self-referral by diagnosing various mental health conditions with an accuracy rate of 93%. Through continuous digital assessments and conversations, the AI analyzes a patient's input to provide emotional support and access to resources. Limbic Care also provides personalized assistance and remote monitoring for patients during treatment to augment psychological therapy from diagnosis to recovery.

Your key takeaways

The thoroughly modern condition of cyberchondria isn't helped by platforms like TikTok, where mental health-related content is for example driving a surge in autism and ADHD self-diagnoses. For those and other disorders that are under-diagnosed in women and non-binary people, TikTok and other social platforms fulfill a need that isn't always met by traditional healthcare avenues. Can you take a leaf out of Diem’s book and build a conversational LLM that's trained on health data of overlooked demographics?
Medical experts favored ChatGPT’s answers over those provided by a physician in 78.6% of cases. (Patients are skeptical: 69% of US respondents would feel uncomfortable getting medical advice from a bot.) Tools like Pāṇini can be a clinician's secret superpower, functioning like an AI copilot by giving patients a human touch while allowing professionals to make more accurate diagnoses and create better treatment plans. Could you find other ways for a GENERATIVE PRACTITIONER to benefit professionals?
The UK’s NHS saw a 16.2% rise in individuals seeking mental health services in 2022. Limbic says the chatbot has helped over 130,000 NHS patients access therapy, resulting in a 23.5% reduction in assessment time and an 18% decrease in treatment dropouts. It has already saved over 30,000 clinical hours. Which demonstrates that a GENERATIVE PRACTITIONER doesn't just complement mental health professionals, but can also help improve therapy retention.

Our services 🇺🇸

Platform

Events

Keynotes

Our Trend Intelligence Platform

Amplify is our trend intelligence platform, giving you access to our full Trend Framework, Innovation Database with 28,000+ innovations, Industry Reports, Stats, Training, Analyst Support and more. Powered by humans and AI, and used by 100s of B2C brands and agencies.

NEW | Experience the platform yourself with our free 14 day trial 🙌

See you soon, online or in NY?

In an age of AI, human x human, online or offline, is the new currency!

We run highly curated free webinars - next up is "AI x New Consumer Expectations" on 15 May.

Prefer the real world? Then check out our flagship Trend Events in Bangkok, Amsterdam and New York later this year.

Prepping for 2025 has never been this inspiring!

Your next presentation or workshop

We absolutely love trend events, conferences, keynotes and workshops. Public or internal, real world or online.

In fact, over the last 10 years, we've participated in and organized 100s of them, from New York to Detroit to São Paulo to Singapore. Whatever you may be planning, we're keen to go all out.

Get your hands on our newsletter 👊

100,000+ Subscribers. Trends & Insights. Free.