Oakland, CA, June 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Peer Health Exchange (PHE) is launching an interactive Conversational AI Platform (CAP) on its digital health platform selfsea.org. The CAP is designed to provide young people with immediate guidance towards high quality youth-approved health resources 24/7 when human support isn’t available.
Peer Health Exchange’s Youth Design Group (YDG) first introduced the idea of using AI on selfsea.org. The YDG is a cohort of young people (aged 13-18) who collaborate on selfsea’s development: offering advice, recommendations, and final approval for new resources and content since the digital platform was launched in 2021.
“We provided input on the topics that should be addressed by the Conversational AI tool. We also identified information or words that could be triggering or harmful, ensuring the resource to be supportive and sensitive to users' needs.” said YDG member Richa Viswanath, 17. Mei Lin, 18, another YDG member, added, “I thought it was a really cool experience, and a unique way to learn more about digital safety and AI.” The YDG worked alongside PHE Staff and Intuist.ai, an AI software company committed to working in the non-profit sector, to develop the new feature. PHE is using Intuist proprietary technology to ensure that only validated and evidence-based content was used to train the CAP to deliver trusted information.
PHE designed the CAP to be bright, youthful, and accessible. Its tone ranges from energetic to compassionate, based on the input subject matter. The tool is trained to sift through the hundreds of available health resources on selfsea, and to guide users to the most pertinent one(s), using youth-appropriate responses. It is also available in Spanish.
According to a recent survey, 66% of nonprofits are using AI tools. AI technology can help improve the quality of nonprofit services, save time and reduce costs, while also gaining a better understanding of their user experiences. “We’re still exploring its full capabilities and limitations, with a keen focus on ensuring youth safety. We’ll closely monitor analytics and gather feedback from young users as we roll-out this new feature,” said Chris Wilson, AVP of Digital Impact at Peer Health Exchange.
CEO Dr. Angela Glymph added, “We are committed to continuously listening to young people, and to adapting our tools to better serve young people’s health needs. Our approach is deeply collaborative, ensuring that youth voices are not just heard, but are integral to the shaping of our services.”
About Peer Health Exchange
Peer Health Exchange’s (PHE) mission is to build healthier communities with young people. Together, we create education opportunities for peers to share the tools and resources young people need to make healthy decisions. With our partners, we advance health equity and improve health outcomes for young people in under-resourced communities. For safe, relatable, inclusive, and engaging content on mental health, relationships, identity, and sexual health, follow Peer Health Exchange on Tik Tok, Facebook, Instagram, and X.
About selfsea
selfsea, powered by Peer Health Exchange and co-designed with young people, reaches over 500,000 young people with safe, inclusive, evidence-based, and identity-affirming health resources and information. It’s a platform where young people can see themselves reflected in content that prioritizes their identities and experiences about mental health, sexual health, and beyond.
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Haley Lloyd Peer Health Exchange 3018255338 hlloyd@peerhealthexchange.org
