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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Kat Lay, Global health correspondent

The chatbot will see you now: how AI is being trained to spot mental health issues in any language

Mental Health Uganda Languages
Close-up of an African man using a voice assistant on a mobile phone.
The team say that a digital intervention is easily accessible and can bypass stigma around mental health. Photograph: Andriy Popov/Alamy

When patients telephone Butabika hospital in Kampala, Uganda, seeking help with mental health problems, they are themselves assisting future patients by helping to create a therapy chatbot.

Calls to the clinic helpline are being used to train an AI algorithm that researchers hope will eventually power a chatbot offering therapy in local African languages.

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