The chatbot will respond overnight and when a volunteer is unavailable in the chat. Users expressing suicidal thoughts are to be connected with a human counsellor.
Swiss emotional-support service Die Dargebotene Hand is introducing an AI chatbot for people who cannot reach a counsellor through its online chat. Volunteers currently answer only about one in three or four chat requests, project head Eva Hausmann told SRF.
The bot is expected to operate mainly overnight, from 10 p.m. to 10 a.m., and offer support rather than leave users without a response. Hausmann said the service could be particularly useful to younger people who may prefer to start with a chatbot before deciding whether to contact a person.
Acute crises, including suicidal thoughts, are to be referred to a human. In such cases, the bot will end the automated exchange and provide contact details for human support.
The organisation points to experience in Finland, where it says the waiting time for online counselling fell by about 30% after a chatbot was introduced. It says the technology will not replace volunteers and that it still needs to recruit and train more counsellors.