Need a little help to quit smoking but don鈥檛 have the time or money to visit a counsellor? Perhaps a virtual coach could help you kick the habit.
Betsy van Dijk and colleagues from the University of Twente in Enschede, the Netherlands, and the Dutch anti-smoking organisation Stivoro are developing a female chatbot to provide free, round-the-clock advice and exercises for people trying to give up.
Van Dijk says anti-smoking chatbots are ideal for smokers who may be too embarrassed to see a counsellor or simply can鈥檛 find the time or the money. Chatbots also have another advantage. 鈥淎 virtual coach is always there, even at night,鈥� she says.
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Shrouded in the anonymity provided by the internet, smokers can log on to a website and type questions and confessions into a chat box. The coach is programmed to respond with the same answers and facial expressions that Stivoro鈥檚 human counsellors use.
Virtual coaches have a good track record. Frequent conversations with the chatbot Laura, the brainchild of Timothy Bickmore at Northeastern University in Boston, helped to persuade a group of elderly people to exercise more (New 女生小视频, 3 December 2005, p 42).
Van Dijk鈥檚 plan, presented at the Persuasive Technology for Human Well-being conference last week in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, is to create a mild-mannered female coach. If successful, the group will create a range of coaches to suit different users. They are also considering coaches for alcoholics and people overcoming phobias.
