# Human-AI Collaboration Enables More Empathic Conversations in Text-based Peer-to-Peer Mental Health Support

**Authors:** Ashish Sharma, Inna W. Lin, Adam S. Miner, David C. Atkins, Tim Althoff  
**arXiv:** [2203.15144](https://arxiv.org/abs/2203.15144)  
**Date:** 2022-03-28  
**Summary page:** https://www.summarizepaper.com/en/paper/2203.15144v1/

## Key points

- AI systems have advanced in recent years, but struggle with understanding human emotions and open-ended conversations.
- This study focuses on using AI to enhance empathic conversations in online mental health support.
- The researchers developed an AI-in-the-loop agent called Hailey to provide feedback to peer supporters.
- A non-clinical trial on TalkLife showed a 19.60% increase in conversational empathy overall with the Human-AI collaboration approach.
- Peer supporters who had difficulty providing support saw a larger increase of 38.88% in empathy.
- Peer supporters were able to use the AI feedback effectively without becoming overly reliant on it.
- Participants reported improved self-efficacy after receiving feedback from Hailey.

## Summary

The field of artificial intelligence (AI) has made significant advancements in recent years, allowing AI systems to assist humans in performing tasks such as scheduling meetings and checking grammar. However, when it comes to more complex and creative tasks like engaging in empathic conversations, AI systems face challenges in understanding human emotions and the open-ended nature of these interactions. This study focuses on peer-to-peer mental health support, where empathy plays a crucial role, and explores how AI can collaborate with humans to enhance empathic conversations during online text-based interactions. To facilitate this collaboration, the researchers developed an AI-in-the-loop agent called Hailey. Hailey provides just-in-time feedback to peer supporters who offer assistance and aims to help them respond more empathically to individuals seeking help. The effectiveness of Hailey was evaluated through a non-clinical randomized controlled trial involving real-world peer supporters on TalkLife, a large online peer-to-peer support platform. The results of the study demonstrate that the Human-AI collaboration approach led to a significant increase of 19.60% in conversational empathy between peers overall. Moreover, within the subgroup of peer supporters who reported difficulty providing support, there was an even larger increase of 38.88% in empathy. The researchers also analyzed the patterns of Human-AI collaboration and found that peer supporters were able to utilize the AI feedback both directly and indirectly without becoming overly reliant on AI. Additionally, participants reported improved self-efficacy after receiving feedback from Hailey.