According to NEDA volunteer Kay Wells, the helpline is staffed by just six paid employees and a couple of supervisors who train and supervise up to 200 volunteers at any given time. “Staff felt overwhelmed, unsupported, exhausted.” Former workers, however, describe this measure as blatantly anti-union.
Tessa’s creator, Dr. Ellen Fitzsimmons, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Washington, said the chatbot was designed specifically for NEDA and is not as advanced as ChatGPT. It is only programmed with a limited number of responses intended to help people learn strategies to avoid eating disorders. Not a sympathetic ear.
“It’s not an open tool for you to talk to and feel like you’re just going to have access to a listening ear, maybe like the helpline was,” said Dr. Fitzsimmons-Craft. According to her, it’s just a tool to help you learn how to use some strategies to address eating and body image disorders, and while it’s not a human ear, it’s better than “being on the waiting list.”
In accordance with a Gartner study, by 2027, chatbots will become the primary customer service channel for approximately a quarter of organizations.
This is because, among its advantages, is 24/7 availability, diversity in languages, reduced operating costs, greater efficiency, and greater brand loyalty.
However, A study developed by Facebook suggested that 70% of users perceive interactions with chatbots as “failed” and there is a high demand for human interaction. On the other hand, between main risks of chatbots data collection is found and that if they are not prepared with good security systems, they can present a risk due to the leaking of confidential information.
On the other hand, this would not be the first chatbot that provides humanitarian aid. In Spanish, Violetta is available ; a chatbot with which you can talk about your relationships to identify if they are healthy and respectful.
