Long Island Ninth Graders Create Supportive AI Chatbot to Help Kids with "Digital Detoxing"
A group of ninth graders from Chaminade High School in Mineola recently beat out 180 Long Island and New York City students to win a “Medical Marvels” competition put on by Northwell’s Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research that tasked contestants with coming up with ways to “lessen the negative impact of social media” upon their fellow teens.
The Chaminade team's answer? A supportive Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based chatbot that helps kids with "digital detoxing," or spending time away from the cell phones and social media in order to focus on their well-bring and self-care.
At least "60 percent of students reported that social media has negatively affected their sleep schedule and mental health” noted Chaminade team member Ty Miranda, and that inspired the winners of the competition to create their "buddy bot."
“It’s something that we’ve all experienced very firsthand,” said team member Andrew Runje Dargento. “I’ve had days where my screen time is terrible — I don’t even want to say the number. It’s something that I want to change for myself personally and change for the whole community around us.”
The AI chatbot took about a week to code, and, according to the team's tech wizard, Christopher Covelli, offers "positive reinforcements" to users who express that they are stressed or unhappy, based on responses to a survey of approximately 350 Chaminade students.
“It’s a really easy system that identifies 400 plus keywords and has built-in responses to that,” Covelli said.
Some responses on the part of the "buddy bot" include “Remember to take deep breaths. You’re not alone.”
Already, the team members report doing better in school and being happier in general after cutting down on social media usage.
“I feel I have a lot more energy, and I actually gave up TikTok for Lent,” Covelli said. “Sometimes my parents say ‘you seem a little bit happier today.'”
The Chaminade team took home the first-place prize of $1,800, which they plan on using to further develop the chatbot, which will officially be dubbed the “Media Mindful” app.