Changing health habits – like quitting smoking, exercising more, or sticking to prescribed treatments – is difficult but crucial for preventing and managing chronic diseases.
Changing health habits – like quitting smoking, exercising more, or sticking to prescribed treatments – is difficult but crucial for preventing and managing chronic diseases. Motivational interviewing (MI), a patient-centered counseling method that helps people find their own motivation to change, has proven effective across many health care settings.
Yet despite strong evidence, MI is not widely used in clinical practice due to challenges like limited time, training demands and payment barriers. Advances in artificial intelligence, however, are opening new possibilities to bring MI to more people through digital tools.
AI-powered chatbots, apps and virtual agents can simulate the supportive, empathetic conversations at the heart of MI. Using approaches ranging from scripted dialogues to advanced large language models like GPT-4 (commonly known as ChatGPT), these tools provide around-the-clock, judgment-free support. They may be especially helpful for people who do not seek traditional behavioral health care.
Read More: Florida Atlantic University
Image: Advances in artificial intelligence are opening new possibilities to bring motivational interviewing to more people through digital tools. (Credit: Florida Atlantic University)
