Artificial intelligence detects signs of mental illness in text messages.

The Russian company iCognito is developing an intelligent system capable of recognizing the nuances of psychological state on the basis of text messages and giving recommendations in case of deviations. The finished product is promised to be released in 2023.

In the near future, psychotherapists may have a smart assistant in the form of a computer program. It will recognize signs of mental disorders by analyzing people's text messages. If necessary, the program will signal that the user needs help from a medical specialist. To do this, the algorithm is now being trained on the example of more than 50 million messages from users.

According to the company iCognito (Skolkovo resident and developer of the solution), it promises to be a revolution in the field of psychotherapy, reports TASS.

"The product will be able to be used for primary diagnosis in medical institutions. By analyzing patients' messages for certain markers of mental conditions and disorders, the AI will offer the patient a test to confirm their diagnosis and then refer them to the right specialist," the press office said.

The first version of the product with an advanced AI component is expected to hit the market in mid-2023. The product is now being experimented with for more accurate recognition. Over two and a half years of preparation, the iCognito team has accumulated a large database of text messages related to depression, anxiety, stress and relationships.

According to Olga Troitskaya, founder and director of the development company, the experts have a large amount of unstructured text data at their disposal - transcripts from psychotherapists or crisis line chats containing live speech.

"Because we originally collected marked-up data, we got a very good base for training artificial intelligence," she stresses.

At first, mental state recognition capabilities will be based on a selective set of steps. The developers will add individual AI recommendations for state management there, the press service noted. iCognito also specializes in computer-based psychotherapy programs. They are designed for self-diagnosis of mental health and training of urgent psychological self-help skills.

According to the manufacturer, the use of such programs makes it possible to achieve improvement in psychological well-being in a short time. Their effectiveness is comparable to taking anti-depressants and has been proven in clinical studies. Developments are based on the most modern methods of cognitive-behavioral and interpersonal therapy.

We are talking about mild and moderate forms of mental disorders (including depression) and psychological problems concerning relationships within a couple or between children and parents. For severe forms of mental disorders or psychological problems, the use of programs is recommended, subject to supervision by a specialist.