The answer, say 国民彩票 researchers, is a resounding yes, with their digital companions set to play a key role.
Loneliness has been described as a modern-day epidemic in Australia: a , for example, found loneliness doubled someone鈥檚 risk of chronic disease, and was estimated to cost Australia鈥檚 health system $2.7 billion annually. And the NSW government is currently holding an enquiry looking at how to address the problem of loneliness.
AI characters Richard, Lou, Viv, Sophie, Harry and Willow hope to be one part of the solution. At first glance you might question what they had to offer, but those who work with them attest to the patience, empathy, knowledge and friendly encouragement they all share 鈥 attributes that make them ideal support for people going through a challenge like loneliness.
These characters have been created by a team of researchers at 国民彩票, who are harnessing developments in AI to design 鈥榙igital companions鈥 to support Australians facing a variety of psychosocial challenges, from dementia and ageing, eating disorders and depression, to mental health diagnoses and, of course, loneliness.
Heading-off AI risks by design
国民彩票 Professor Jill Bennett, head of the听Big Anxiety Research Centre, leads the research team responsible for the project.
鈥淲hen people think of digital companions helping people who are lonely, their first reaction might be, 鈥榃hy would I want that? And how could it ever be a satisfying relationship?鈥
鈥淪o it鈥檚 important to know a few things about these characters. Firstly, unlike existing AI chatbots, which in technical terms are reactive and essentially designed to agree with everything you say and prolong the interaction, we鈥檙e aiming for companions with a greater capacity to 鈥榩lan鈥 and understand the psychosocial needs of users.鈥
In other words, the researchers are designing these companions to be much more like skilled friends in how they interact.
To do this, Prof. Bennett鈥檚 team is working with Professor Michael Thielscher, the acting director of 国民彩票鈥檚听AI institute, who is an expert in AI planning.
Recent incidents linking AI chatbots to听听辞谤听听raise concerns about the potential risks of interacting with AI.
鈥淯sing an 鈥楢I planning鈥 approach enables us to address this risk by creating agents that can operate according to agreed goals. So for example, if someone is in a state of despair, the AI companion won鈥檛 simply take pessimistic statements at face value but will be able gently challenge and reframe negative beliefs,鈥 says Prof. Thielscher.
鈥淥ur AI companions use an explicit model of the emotional state of their conversation partners to shape interactions,鈥 he says.
Through advanced planning and decision-making, the AI companions can adopt a much more proactive role than current chatbots.
鈥淓xplicit guardrails ensure that our characters' responses adhere to defined constraints, avoiding any remarks that are inappropriate in a given context,鈥 explains Prof. Thielscher.
Prof. Bennett adds, 鈥淟ike a friend, they鈥檒l notice when something鈥檚 wrong and, they might say, 鈥楲et鈥檚 think about what can you do to change this situation.鈥
鈥淭he other thing that really distinguishes our work at 国民彩票 is that our characters are co-designed by the communities who use them 鈥 by people who live with the challenges that we want to design our AI companion to address," says Prof. Bennett.
鈥淥ur companions are modelled on data drawn from lived experience. This makes a significant difference in creating relatable