Earkick is one of hundreds of free apps that are being pitched to address a crisis in mental health among teens and young adults.
Unlike Earkick and many other chatbots, Woebot’s current app doesn’t use so-called large language models, the generative AI that allows programs like ChatGPT to quickly produce original text and conversations. Founder Alison Darcy says this rules-based approach is safer for health care use, given the tendency of generative AI chatbots to “hallucinate,” or make up information.
