Xiaotian: healing chatbots provides 24/7

reach-out for mental wellness

  • General Project Information: Integration of Generative AI with Psychological counselling

  • Project Time Length: 2021.7 – 2022.7

  • Team or Individual Project: This is a group work aligning different entities including Westlake University’s AI lab

    and Scietrain (top AI startup); I’m the people in charge on product market research and implementation of the project;

Mental health challenges are becoming a growing concern globally, and China is no exception. In fact, over 300 million people in China are reported to suffer from mental health issues, with many unable to find affordable, professional help. The lack of reliable counselors, coupled with a blurred line between professionals and unqualified practitioners, makes it difficult for those in need to find the support they deserve. The Xiaotian project was born out of this pressing need for more accessible, trustworthy, and effective mental health services. Leveraging the power of Generative AI, Xiaotian provides round-the-clock support, offering both emotional relief for users and operational efficiency for counselors.

Initially designed for university students and teenagers, Xiaotian primarily serves educational institutions, offering psychological counseling to young adults who often face academic pressure and mental health challenges. In response to the widespread emotional toll caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Xiaotian also extended its reach by opening its API to social institutions and offering pro-bono services, particularly aimed at supporting teenagers during lockdowns and quarantine. This expansion allowed Xiaotian to offer crucial mental health services during a time of heightened isolation and stress.

What is Xiaotian?

The Xiaotian project comprises two innovative products: an AI-powered assistant for professional counselors and a pre-trained psychological assistant for general users. The counselor assistant is designed to enhance the efficiency of mental health professionals by generating responses within seconds, based on personalized frameworks. It can provide three theoretically aligned replies simultaneously, enabling counselors to focus on deeper, more complex issues.

For end-users, Xiaotian acts as an emotional relief assistant. It helps users process their feelings, classifies their needs, and recommends appropriate counselors. If the issue requires advanced intervention, Xiaotian flags this to ensure a senior counselor takes over. Its built-in features, such as sensitive word screening and suicide risk detection, also make it an invaluable tool for mental health management.

Generative AI offers a transformative solution. Since the rise of GPT-3 in 2019, there has been an increasing recognition of the role AI can play in providing scalable, accessible mental health support. Xiaotian embodies this potential by making psychological counseling more available to the general public, reducing stigma, and helping users connect with professional help. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Xiaotian provided critical pro-bono mental health services, particularly for teenagers, helping them manage the emotional strain brought about by isolation and social restrictions.

Significance and Urgency

The importance of Xiaotian lies not just in its innovative technology, but in its potential to address the mental health crisis in China. With 300 million people affected, the scale of the problem is enormous. Many individuals, especially those in underserved regions, lack access to professional counseling. Additionally, a 2021 survey reported that 17.5% of school-aged children (6-16) in China suffer from mental health disorders, further emphasizing the need for early intervention and support.

Objectives of the Xiaotian Project

The Xiaotian project has a clear set of objectives aimed at reshaping the mental health landscape in China:

  1. Early Intervention: By utilizing advanced AI screening tools, Xiaotian helps detect mental health issues at an early stage, facilitating timely intervention.

  2. Promoting Mental Health Awareness: Xiaotian educates the public about the importance of seeking professional counseling, thus reducing stigma and encouraging more people to seek help.

  3. Innovative Mental Health Service Delivery: The integration of AI technology into mental health services offers more efficient, high-quality care.

  4. Support for Counselors: Xiaotian assists counselors by managing preliminary consultations and routine communications, allowing them to handle more clients effectively.

  5. Contributing to the Mental Health Infrastructure: Xiaotian aims to become a scalable solution, providing critical support to a strained mental health system and improving overall accessibility to professional services.

Xiaotian’s Development and Technology

Xiaotian was developed as a collaboration between Westlake University and Scietrain, and it has already been put into practice by providing psychological counseling to over 15,000 students. The AI platform is built on the ALBERT model, a cutting-edge language processing tool developed by Westlake University's AI company Westlake Xinchen, founded by Dr. Lan Zhenzhong, a former Google scientist. Since its creation, Xiaotian has attracted several rounds of funding and investments, helping it evolve into a sophisticated tool for both professional counselors and end-users.

The Impact on Counselors and Users

The Xiaotian project benefits both professional counselors and end-users, bringing new levels of accessibility and efficiency to the field of mental health.

For counselors, Xiaotian enhances their practice by:

  1. Boosting Efficiency: The AI assistant generates responses quickly, allowing counselors to spend more time on complex tasks.

  2. Data-Driven Insights: The platform collects and analyzes user data, providing valuable insights into patient needs and preferences.

  3. Professional Development: By interacting with the AI, counselors can learn new techniques and understand client behavior in more depth.

  4. Client Management: Automated scheduling and follow-ups make it easier for counselors to handle their workloads.

For end-users, Xiaotian offers immediate, personalized support:

  1. Immediate Access: Users can get instant emotional relief and guidance, which is crucial for those in urgent need of support.

  2. Tailored Recommendations: Based on the user’s emotional state, Xiaotian provides personalized counselor recommendations.

  3. Cost-Effective: The AI-based platform is more affordable than traditional counseling, making it accessible to a wider population.

  4. Privacy and Comfort: Some users may feel more comfortable opening up to an AI than to a human, particularly when it comes to sensitive issues.

  5. Public Awareness: By interacting with Xiaotian, users learn more about mental health, reducing stigma and encouraging professional help-seeking behavior.

Looking Ahead: Future Developments

Xiaotian’s potential goes far beyond its current capabilities. As the project evolves, it could serve as a personal psychiatrist for children, providing longitudinal support throughout a child’s development. By adapting to a child’s unique psychological profile and learning patterns, Xiaotian could track psychological trends and offer tailored care over time.

Additionally, the platform could introduce cognitive development tools, such as interactive learning modules and gamified activities that foster emotional intelligence and self-awareness in children. There is also potential for Xiaotian to integrate with larger systems for psychological risk detection, offering early warnings for educational institutions and caregivers to address issues before they escalate.

Finally, the future of Xiaotian will be shaped by a commitment to ethical AI use, regulatory compliance, and collaboration with mental health professionals to ensure that AI-driven assessments remain valid, secure, and effective.

The Xiaotian project represents a bold step forward in using AI to address the mental health crisis in China, particularly in universities and among teenagers. By combining psychology, AI, and healthcare, it has the potential to reshape mental health service delivery and bring professional support to millions of people.

Xiaotian not only raises public awareness of mental wellness but also embodies a personalized, scalable solution that can accompany individuals on their mental health journey from childhood into adulthood. Its ability to fill the gap in mental health services, while providing more efficient tools for professionals, signals a new era in mental wellness support.

As it continues to develop, Xiaotian promises to be a lasting force for good, offering immediate emotional support, raising awareness, and empowering users to take charge of their mental health. 

Technological Implementation: 

1.     "long-term dialogue"：Xiaotian can remember conversations, communicate continuously, and guide users to talk about the confusion and psychological discomfort in their personal lives. It also has the ability to perceive emotions and can empathize with the emotions released by users like a "human", and give appropriate "warm" feedback and suggestions.

2.     Psychology x Generative AI interdisciplinary trial out :Xiaotian's R&D team brings together doctoral students and postdoctoral students majoring in psychology and artificial intelligence from the Deep Learning Laboratory of West Lake University, and has long invited professional psychological counselors to participate in research and development, forming a three-dimensional interdisciplinary research. Xiaotian has been trained for nearly three years around cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), narrative therapy and humanistic therapy. At present, Xiaotian has reached the level of an intermediate psychological counselor.

3.     Classification and Recommendation System: The project includes a system that classifies user needs and recommends suitable counselors, streamlining the process of seeking help and improving user experience.

4.     Automated Appointment Scheduling: Xiaotian's ability to automatically make appointments reduces barriers to accessing counseling services, making it more convenient for users to engage with professionals.

5.     Advanced Screening Capabilities: The inclusion of sensitive word screening and suicidal tendency detection functions enhances the safety and responsiveness of the service, ensuring that users receive appropriate care when needed.