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By Meg Flippin, Benzinga

South African youth are facing various mental health challenges. Some 73% of children and young people in South Africa indicated in a UNICEF poll that they needed mental health help, with 38% actively looking for it. Educational outcomes, a need for work skills, training and employment opportunities were the main topics causing stress and anxiety among 57% of respondents.

While resolving mental health issues is complex, promising technologies and the companies behind them can contribute innovative remedies. Not everyone in South Africa has access to mental healthcare, but 92% of households do have access to a cell phone.

Leveraging AI For Mental Health

Hence, Brand Engagement Network Inc. (NASDAQ: BNAI), the maker of artificial intelligence (AI) assistants and avatars and Valio Technologies Pty Ltd., the operator of a digital platform network for patients, doctors, pharmacies, radiology, pathology and hospitals, have teamed up to increase access to mental health care in South Africa.

The two recently entered into an agreement to develop healthcare AI assistants focused on providing mental health support for students attending several universities in the country, including Tshwane University of Technology, the University of Pretoria and the University of Johannesburg. All told, the AI assistants will be available to more than 315,000 college students.

The goal is to promote better student mental health through avatars and assistants that can handle the appropriate conversation flow regarding mental health. Brand Engagement Network (BEN) is ideally suited for the role. The company is making a name for itself in the AI assistant market thanks to its human-like avatars that the company says drive better customer experience, increased automation and operational efficiencies.

BEN uses much smaller data parameters than larger models like ChatGPT, enabling it to offer companies AI that is scalable and can be tailored to specific use cases. At the heart of its business model is a security-first approach. Unlike many of the unsecured AI systems that train with unknown data and have math limitations, BEN trains on client-provided data, uses mixed technology for precise math and follows clients’ internal client data management and privacy protocols. It’s also HIPAA and SOC 2 compliant.

Under the partnership, BEN will ingest mental health content provided by Valio and Tshwane University of Technology. That content will be supplemented with other sources for a more rounded conversational experience. The idea is to create human-like avatars that can act like digital therapists, providing advice to help students manage stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness, substance abuse and many other mental health issues. If the proof of concepts with the universities are successful, BEN and Valio will work with the universities to negotiate a platform services and license agreement.

Accessing New Markets

This partnership is a big deal for BEN and marks its first foray into the education and mental health markets, not to mention Africa. It also showcases what BEN is good at, creating responsible AI systems that have a positive impact on society. AI is often perceived negatively due to concerns about privacy, security, and transparency, yet it also holds significant potential for benefiting humanity.

BEN is already demonstrating that in the healthcare market, by rolling out conversational AI that it says can improve patient experiences and medication understanding, leading to better outcomes. Its Remember Me technology syncs digital and physical interactions for an integrated, personalized customer experience, while Skye, BEN’s AI chatbot, assists patients when taking Metformin, the diabetes drug.

The chatbot doesn’t claim to know everything nor does it hallucinate, which occurs when chatbots give incorrect answers. This is because Skye is loaded with very specific pharmaceutical data provided by the drug maker, as well as results from clinical trials and data from accredited medical groups like the American Diabetes Association. When a patient asks a question, Skye is drawing from a carefully selected data set which prevents it from hallucinating or interjecting bias into answers. The same approach is being applied to the mental health avatars.

According to a recent study, South Africans suffer higher rates of probable depression and anxiety than other wealthier countries. BEN and Valio want to change that and are betting AI can provide a big assist. If its proof-of-concept AI assistants prove successful in helping students, it showcases what AI can do when unleashed for good rather than bad.

Featured photo by Eye for Ebony on Unsplash

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