Published on in Vol 5, No 5 (2021): May

Preprints (earlier versions) of this paper are available at https://preprints.jmir.org/preprint/27868, first published .
Evidence of Human-Level Bonds Established With a Digital Conversational Agent: Cross-sectional, Retrospective Observational Study

Evidence of Human-Level Bonds Established With a Digital Conversational Agent: Cross-sectional, Retrospective Observational Study

Evidence of Human-Level Bonds Established With a Digital Conversational Agent: Cross-sectional, Retrospective Observational Study

Journals

  1. Beatty C, Malik T, Meheli S, Sinha C. Evaluating the Therapeutic Alliance With a Free-Text CBT Conversational Agent (Wysa): A Mixed-Methods Study. Frontiers in Digital Health 2022;4 View
  2. Brown J, Halpern J. AI chatbots cannot replace human interactions in the pursuit of more inclusive mental healthcare. SSM - Mental Health 2021;1:100017 View
  3. Ollier J, Nißen M, von Wangenheim F. The Terms of “You(s)”: How the Term of Address Used by Conversational Agents Influences User Evaluations in French and German Linguaculture. Frontiers in Public Health 2022;9 View
  4. He Y, Yang L, Zhu X, Wu B, Zhang S, Qian C, Tian T. Mental Health Chatbot for Young Adults With Depressive Symptoms During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Single-Blind, Three-Arm Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Medical Internet Research 2022;24(11):e40719 View
  5. Prochaska J, Vogel E, Chieng A, Baiocchi M, Pajarito S, Pirner M, Darcy A, Robinson A. A relational agent for treating substance use in adults: Protocol for a randomized controlled trial with a psychoeducational comparator. Contemporary Clinical Trials 2023;127:107125 View
  6. Lim J, Hong M, Lam W, Zhang Z, Teo Z, Liu Y, Ng W, Foo L, Ting D. Novel technical and privacy-preserving technology for artificial intelligence in ophthalmology. Current Opinion in Ophthalmology 2022;33(3):174 View
  7. Wilson L, Marasoiu M. The Development and Use of Chatbots in Public Health: Scoping Review. JMIR Human Factors 2022;9(4):e35882 View
  8. Lin A, Trappey C, Luan C, Trappey A, Tu K. A Test Platform for Managing School Stress Using a Virtual Reality Group Chatbot Counseling System. Applied Sciences 2021;11(19):9071 View
  9. Tran A, Pallant J, Johnson L. Exploring the impact of chatbots on consumer sentiment and expectations in retail. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 2021;63:102718 View
  10. Chiauzzi E, Robinson A, Martin K, Petersen C, Wells N, Williams A, Gleason M. A Relational Agent Intervention for Adolescents Seeking Mental Health Treatment: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Research Protocols 2023;12:e44940 View
  11. Shah J, DePietro B, D'Adamo L, Firebaugh M, Laing O, Fowler L, Smolar L, Sadeh‐Sharvit S, Taylor C, Wilfley D, Fitzsimmons‐Craft E. Development and usability testing of a chatbot to promote mental health services use among individuals with eating disorders following screening. International Journal of Eating Disorders 2022;55(9):1229 View
  12. Tong F, Lederman R, D'Alfonso S, Berry K, Bucci S. Digital Therapeutic Alliance With Fully Automated Mental Health Smartphone Apps: A Narrative Review. Frontiers in Psychiatry 2022;13 View
  13. Neumann I, Käthner I, Gromer D, Pauli P. Impact of perceived social support on pain perception in virtual reality. Computers in Human Behavior 2023;139:107490 View
  14. Sedlakova J, Trachsel M. Conversational Artificial Intelligence in Psychotherapy: A New Therapeutic Tool or Agent?. The American Journal of Bioethics 2023;23(5):4 View
  15. Nißen M, Rüegger D, Stieger M, Flückiger C, Allemand M, v Wangenheim F, Kowatsch T. The Effects of Health Care Chatbot Personas With Different Social Roles on the Client-Chatbot Bond and Usage Intentions: Development of a Design Codebook and Web-Based Study. Journal of Medical Internet Research 2022;24(4):e32630 View
  16. Khanna R, Robinson N, O’Donnell M, Eyre H, Smith E. Affective Computing in Psychotherapy. Advances in Psychiatry and Behavioral Health 2022;2(1):95 View
  17. Fuchs T. Understanding Sophia? On human interaction with artificial agents. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 2024;23(1):21 View
  18. Hayakawa M, Watanabe O, Shiga K, Fujishita M, Yamaki C, Ogo Y, Takahashi T, Ikeguchi Y, Takayama T. Exploring types of conversational agents for resolving cancer patients’ questions and concerns: Analysis of 100 telephone consultations on breast cancer. Patient Education and Counseling 2023;106:75 View
  19. Boucher E, Harake N, Ward H, Stoeckl S, Vargas J, Minkel J, Parks A, Zilca R. Artificially intelligent chatbots in digital mental health interventions: a review. Expert Review of Medical Devices 2021;18(sup1):37 View
  20. Morrow E, Zidaru T, Ross F, Mason C, Patel K, Ream M, Stockley R. Artificial intelligence technologies and compassion in healthcare: A systematic scoping review. Frontiers in Psychology 2023;13 View
  21. Trappey A, Lin A, Hsu K, Trappey C, Tu K. Development of an Empathy-Centric Counseling Chatbot System Capable of Sentimental Dialogue Analysis. Processes 2022;10(5):930 View
  22. Balcombe L, De Leo D. Human-Computer Interaction in Digital Mental Health. Informatics 2022;9(1):14 View
  23. Mateos-Sanchez M, Melo A, Blanco L, García A. Chatbot, as Educational and Inclusive Tool for People with Intellectual Disabilities. Sustainability 2022;14(3):1520 View
  24. Darcy A, Beaudette A, Chiauzzi E, Daniels J, Goodwin K, Mariano T, Wicks P, Robinson A. Anatomy of a Woebot® (WB001): agent guided CBT for women with postpartum depression. Expert Review of Medical Devices 2022;19(4):287 View
  25. Kettle L, Lee Y. User Experiences of Well-Being Chatbots. Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 2024;66(6):1703 View
  26. Tong F, Lederman R, D'Alfonso S, Berry K, Bucci S. Conceptualizing the digital therapeutic alliance in the context of fully automated mental health apps: A thematic analysis. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy 2023;30(5):998 View
  27. Ivarsson J, Lindwall O. Suspicious Minds: the Problem of Trust and Conversational Agents. Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) 2023;32(3):545 View
  28. He Y, Yang L, Qian C, Li T, Su Z, Zhang Q, Hou X. Conversational Agent Interventions for Mental Health Problems: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Journal of Medical Internet Research 2023;25:e43862 View
  29. Vagwala M, Asher R. Conversational Artificial Intelligence and Distortions of the Psychotherapeutic Frame: Issues of Boundaries, Responsibility, and Industry Interests. The American Journal of Bioethics 2023;23(5):28 View
  30. Castro O, Mair J, Salamanca-Sanabria A, Alattas A, Keller R, Zheng S, Jabir A, Lin X, Frese B, Lim C, Santhanam P, van Dam R, Car J, Lee J, Tai E, Fleisch E, von Wangenheim F, Tudor Car L, Müller-Riemenschneider F, Kowatsch T. Development of “LvL UP 1.0”: a smartphone-based, conversational agent-delivered holistic lifestyle intervention for the prevention of non-communicable diseases and common mental disorders. Frontiers in Digital Health 2023;5 View
  31. Chaturvedi R, Verma S, Das R, Dwivedi Y. Social companionship with artificial intelligence: Recent trends and future avenues. Technological Forecasting and Social Change 2023;193:122634 View
  32. Marriott H, Pitardi V. One is the loneliest number… Two can be as bad as one. The influence of AI Friendship Apps on users' well‐being and addiction. Psychology & Marketing 2024;41(1):86 View
  33. Comulada W, Rezai R, Sumstine S, Flores D, Kerin T, Ocasio M, Swendeman D, Fernández M. A necessary conversation to develop chatbots for HIV studies: qualitative findings from research staff, community advisory board members, and study participants. AIDS Care 2024;36(4):463 View
  34. Amugongo L, Kriebitz A, Boch A, Lütge C. Operationalising AI ethics through the agile software development lifecycle: a case study of AI-enabled mobile health applications. AI and Ethics 2023 View
  35. Balcombe L. AI Chatbots in Digital Mental Health. Informatics 2023;10(4):82 View
  36. Grodniewicz J, Hohol M. Waiting for a digital therapist: three challenges on the path to psychotherapy delivered by artificial intelligence. Frontiers in Psychiatry 2023;14 View
  37. Suharwardy S, Ramachandran M, Leonard S, Gunaseelan A, Lyell D, Darcy A, Robinson A, Judy A. Feasibility and impact of a mental health chatbot on postpartum mental health: a randomized controlled trial. AJOG Global Reports 2023;3(3):100165 View
  38. Hoffman V, Flom M, Mariano T, Chiauzzi E, Williams A, Kirvin-Quamme A, Pajarito S, Durden E, Perski O. User Engagement Clusters of an 8-Week Digital Mental Health Intervention Guided by a Relational Agent (Woebot): Exploratory Study. Journal of Medical Internet Research 2023;25:e47198 View
  39. Durden E, Pirner M, Rapoport S, Williams A, Robinson A, Forman-Hoffman V. Changes in stress, burnout, and resilience associated with an 8-week intervention with relational agent “Woebot”. Internet Interventions 2023;33:100637 View
  40. Darcy A, Beaudette A, Chiauzzi E, Daniels J, Goodwin K, Mariano T, Wicks P, Robinson A. Anatomy of a Woebot® (WB001): agent guided CBT for women with postpartum depression. Expert Review of Medical Devices 2023;20(12):1035 View
  41. Khawaja Z, Bélisle-Pipon J. Your robot therapist is not your therapist: understanding the role of AI-powered mental health chatbots. Frontiers in Digital Health 2023;5 View
  42. Akerson M, Andazola M, Moore A, DeCamp M. More Than Just a Pretty Face? Nudging and Bias in Chatbots. Annals of Internal Medicine 2023;176(7):997 View
  43. Karkosz S, Szymański R, Sanna K, Michałowski J. Effectiveness of a Web-based and Mobile Therapy Chatbot on Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms in Subclinical Young Adults: Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Formative Research 2024;8:e47960 View
  44. Wygnańska J. The Experience of Conversation and Relation with a Well-Being Chabot: Between Proximity and Remoteness. Qualitative Sociology Review 2023;19(4):92 View
  45. Alanzi T, Alsalem A, Alzahrani H, Almudaymigh N, Alessa A, Mulla R, AlQahtani L, Bajonaid R, Alharthi A, Alnahdi O, Alanzi N. AI-Powered Mental Health Virtual Assistants Acceptance: An Empirical Study on Influencing Factors Among Generations X, Y, and Z. Cureus 2023 View
  46. Aghakhani S, Carre N, Mostovoy K, Shafer R, Baeza-Hernandez K, Entenberg G, Testerman A, Bunge E. Qualitative analysis of mental health conversational agents messages about autism spectrum disorder: a call for action. Frontiers in Digital Health 2023;5 View
  47. Eltahawy L, Essig T, Myszkowski N, Trub L. Can robots do therapy?: Examining the efficacy of a CBT bot in comparison with other behavioral intervention technologies in alleviating mental health symptoms. Computers in Human Behavior: Artificial Humans 2024;2(1):100035 View
  48. Ding H, Simmich J, Vaezipour A, Andrews N, Russell T. Evaluation framework for conversational agents with artificial intelligence in health interventions: a systematic scoping review. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association 2023 View
  49. Neumann I, Andreatta M, Pauli P, Käthner I. Social support of virtual characters reduces pain perception. European Journal of Pain 2024;28(5):806 View
  50. Ulrich S, Gantenbein A, Zuber V, Von Wyl A, Kowatsch T, Künzli H. Development and Evaluation of a Smartphone-Based Chatbot Coach to Facilitate a Balanced Lifestyle in Individuals With Headaches (BalanceUP App): Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Medical Internet Research 2024;26:e50132 View
  51. Qi Y. Pilot Quasi-Experimental Research on the Effectiveness of the Woebot AI Chatbot for Reducing Mild Depression Symptoms among Athletes. International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction 2024:1 View
  52. Li S, Wang Y, Chen L, Chen T, Du J, Su H, Jiang H, Wu Q, Zhang L, Bao J, Zhao M. Virtual agents among participants with methamphetamine use disorders: Acceptability and usability study. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare 2024 View
  53. Chiauzzi E, Williams A, Mariano T, Pajarito S, Robinson A, Kirvin-Quamme A, Forman-Hoffman V. Demographic and clinical characteristics associated with anxiety and depressive symptom outcomes in users of a digital mental health intervention incorporating a relational agent. BMC Psychiatry 2024;24(1) View
  54. Vargas-Nieto J, Zambrano D, Montorio I, Sanabria L. Efficacy of Digital Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Repetitive Negative Thinking: A Systematic Review and Bibliometric Analysis. Mindfulness 2024;15(3):523 View
  55. MacNeill A, MacNeill L, Yi S, Goudreau A, Luke A, Doucet S. Depiction of conversational agents as health professionals: a scoping review. JBI Evidence Synthesis 2024 View
  56. Karhiy M, Sagar M, Antoni M, Loveys K, Broadbent E. Can a virtual human increase mindfulness and reduce stress? A randomised trial. Computers in Human Behavior: Artificial Humans 2024;2(1):100069 View
  57. Forman-Hoffman V, Flom M, Montgomery R, Robinson A. Improvements in Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Among Adults With Anxiety or Depressive Symptoms Participating in a Relational Agent–Delivered Digital Mental Health Intervention. Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine 2024;66(3):e99 View
  58. Cevasco K, Morrison Brown R, Woldeselassie R, Kaplan S. Patient Engagement with Conversational Agents in Health Applications 2016–2022: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Journal of Medical Systems 2024;48(1) View
  59. Ferrario A, Sedlakova J, Trachsel M. The Role of Humanization and Robustness of Large Language Models in Conversational Artificial Intelligence for Individuals with Depression: A Critical Analysis (Preprint). JMIR Mental Health 2024 View
  60. Boverhof B, Redekop W, Visser J, Uyl-de Groot C, Rutten-van Mölken M. Broadening the HTA of medical AI: A review of the literature to inform a tailored approach. Health Policy and Technology 2024;13(2):100868 View
  61. Sha S, Loveys K, Qualter P, Shi H, Krpan D, Galizzi M. Efficacy of relational agents for loneliness across age groups: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Public Health 2024;24(1) View
  62. Boucher E, Raiker J. Engagement and retention in digital mental health interventions: a narrative review. BMC Digital Health 2024;2(1) View
  63. Chiodo V, Gerli F, Giuliano A. Disentangling tech-enabled system change in social enterprises: an empirical exploration of Ashoka fellows. Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies 2024 View
  64. Yoon S, Goh H, Low X, Weng J, Heaukulani C. User perceptions and utilisation of features of an AI-enabled workplace digital mental wellness platform ‘mindline at work’. BMJ Health & Care Informatics 2024;31(1):e101045 View
  65. Heissler R, Jonáš J, Carre N, Mostovoy K, Bunge E, McDaniel B. Can AI Digital Personas for Well‐Being Provide Social Support? A Mixed‐Method Analysis of User Reviews. Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies 2024;2024(1) View
  66. Weiner L, Crowley R, Sheeber L, Koegler F, Davis J, Wells M, Funkhouser C, Auerbach R, Allen N. Engagement, Acceptability, and Effectiveness of the Self-Care and Coach-Supported Versions of the Vira Digital Behavior Change Platform Among Young Adults at Risk for Depression and Obesity: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Mental Health 2024;11:e51366 View
  67. Macrynikola N, Chang S, Torous J. Emotion Regulation Self-Efficacy as a Mechanism of Alliance and Outcomes in a Brief, Transdiagnostic Digital Mental Health Intervention: L'auto-efficacité de la régulation des émotions en tant que mécanisme d'alliance et de résultats dans une brève intervention transdiagnostique numérique en santé mentale. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 2024 View
  68. Ma Y, Achiche S, Tu G, Vicente S, Lessard D, Engler K, Lemire B, Laymouna M, de Pokomandy A, Cox J, Lebouché B. The first AI‐based Chatbot to promote HIV self‐management: A mixed methods usability study. HIV Medicine 2024 View

Books/Policy Documents

  1. Chatterjee L, Sengupta R. Digital Identity in the New Era of Personalized Medicine. View
  2. Bickmore T, O'Leary T. Digital Therapeutics for Mental Health and Addiction. View
  3. Kaveladze B, Schueller S. Digital Therapeutics for Mental Health and Addiction. View
  4. Kuhlmeier F, Gnewuch U, Lüttke S, Brakemeier E, Mädche A. The Transdisciplinary Reach of Design Science Research. View
  5. Harmon S, Gale H, Dermendzhiyska E. Interactive Storytelling. View
  6. Ashcroft A, Ashcroft A. Trends, Applications, and Challenges of Chatbot Technology. View
  7. Mantello P, Ho T, Podoletz L. The Palgrave Handbook of Malicious Use of AI and Psychological Security. View
  8. Monroy Rodríguez G, Mendoza S, Sánchez-Adame L, Valdespin-Garcia I, Decouchant D. Distributed, Ambient and Pervasive Interactions. View
  9. Yi S, Kikuchi T, Yamasaki T. Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare. View