Feb 25, 2025 21:00:00

The introduction of 'AI-human hybrid chatbots' is progressing to alleviate the shortage of school counselors

Teenagers often have mental anxieties about their studies, family relationships, and friendships, so it is important for them to receive mental care from teachers and professional school counselors. The Wall Street Journal, a business newspaper, reported that the introduction of 'AI-human hybrid chatbots' is progressing in the United States to resolve the shortage of school counselors.

When School Counselors Aren't Available, a Human-AI Chatbot Answers - WSJ

https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/student-mental-health-ai-chat-bots-school-4eb1ba55

The American School Counselor Association recommends that schools employ at least one school counselor for every 250 students, but the average number of counselors in the U.S. is only one for every 376 students. In addition, 17% of high schools do not have a single school counselor, which means there is a shortage of staff to provide mental care to students.

To solve this problem, American AI startup Sonar Mental Health has developed a hybrid chatbot called 'Sonny' that combines AI and humans. Sonny's strength is that instead of relying solely on AI to handle conversations with students, humans with backgrounds in psychology, social work , and mental health support intervene to review chats and respond to students themselves based on AI hints.

Sonar Mental Health staff monitor 15 to 25 chats at a time and notify parents, school administrators, police, or others as needed if a student expresses thoughts of self-harm or suicide.

Drew Barville, who launched Sonar Mental Health while studying at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, said, 'Sonny is like a human co-pilot or assistant.' As rates of anxiety and depression among teenagers rise, Barville believes that being available at all times via smartphones is a way to detect mental health issues early. Sonny learns the words teenagers speak and the emojis they find acceptable so that young people can talk to him or her easily, and chats with young people like a 'cool older brother or sister.'

Sonny has already been adopted by nine school districts across the U.S., serving a total of more than 4,500 students attending public junior and senior high schools. Many of the school districts using Sonny are in low-income or rural areas where mental health services are scarce.

Michelle Herrera Rojas, a 17-year-old high school student in

Richmond , California, has suffered from depression since she was a child and has often seen therapists. When her school introduced Sonny in September 2024, Rojas tried sending a message saying, 'I'm stressed about applying for a college scholarship.'

At the time, Rojas had been spending her days hanging out with friends to distract herself from the death of her cousin, but one day she received a message from Sonny, concerned about the progress of her scholarship application. When Rojas told Sonny about her cousin and the lack of progress in her work, Sonny replied by saying that distracting herself was a normal way to cope and that she needed to take the time to grieve the death of her cousin, but encouraged her to continue with her application. Rojas says that seeing this message made her feel like someone cared about her, which motivated her to focus on her application.

Since then, when Rojas felt it was difficult to rely on friends, he would send chats to Sonny. Regarding using Sonny, Rojas said, 'I know that I can get attached to certain situations and that talking about the same thing over and over can be annoying to my friends. With Sonny, I don't feel like I'm bothering them no matter what I say,' and it seems that he feels that Sonny is easier to consult or talk to than a human friend.

At the time of writing, students can chat with Sonny from 8:00 to 26:00 EST . Barville said he hopes to increase staff and make the service available 24 hours a day.

Sonny's AI was trained by a team of mental health clinicians and researchers from Stanford University and the University of California, Irvine, using techniques from motivational interviewing and cognitive behavioral therapy. But unlike a human therapist, who can spot signs of depression or anxiety from body language and subtle behaviors, Sonny relies on text that students enter themselves.

Therefore, Barville makes it clear in information sessions for schools and students that 'Sonny is not a therapist,' and encourages students to talk to people in their lives. Students can also share their social media accounts with Sonny, who can then monitor their posts for mental health issues. If a student's mental health is in trouble, human staff will work with the school and parents to help them find a therapist.

In addition, unless there are signs of self-harm or violence, staff will not disclose the contents of the conversations between students and Sonny. In addition, if a student deletes the account that talks to Sonny, the conversation history will be deleted after a 60-day retention period. Sonny's service costs $20,000 to $30,000 (approximately 3 million to 4.5 million yen) per school district, and the school district pays for it from a mental health support grant.

In fact, in a high school in

Berryville , Arkansas, where Sonny was introduced, 53% of the 175 students who enrolled in Sonny sent messages several times a month, and after the introduction, the school saw a 26% decrease in students' misconduct. In addition, the increase in messages before the test period helped the school realize that it needed to support students' emotions during that period. In addition, a high school in Marysville , Michigan was able to identify students who had considered suicide through Sonny and provide them with support.

'We believe Sonny will help us identify students who may otherwise be under the radar and need mental health support,' said Callie Smith, Marysville's executive director of special education and state and federal programs.