The National Eating Disorders Association in the United States is discontinuing use of the chatbot after some time using it as a free resource for those affected by eating disorders.
An NGO has suspended the use of a chatbot that offered harmful advice to people with eating disorders. The artificial intelligence, Tessa, was providing excessive recommendations on calorie reduction and weight loss.
Tessa, created to offer mental health advice, and with a training based on cognitive-behavioral therapywas used as a chatbot and free resource by the National Eating Disorders Association in the United States.
However, the NEDAfor its acronym in English, has decided to suspend the chatbot after receiving numerous criticisms. Liz Thompson, executive director of NEDA, expressed her concern about the language used by the chatbot, which went against the organization’s core beliefs and policies regarding eating disorders.
This news highlights the widespread fear about job losses due to the advancement of artificial intelligence, but also evidence the dangers and unpredictability that may present the chatbots.
As researchers try to grapple with rapid advances in AI technology and its potential consequences, companies are rushing to bring various applications to market, putting real people at risk.
Part of their answers were not included in the initial training
Psychologist Alexis Conason was one of the people who experienced Tessa’s comments. Conason wrote to the artificial intelligence that she had gained a lot of weight and hated her body, to which she is responded by encouraging her to focus on healthy and sustainable weight loss, recommending you see a doctor or therapist. So far so good.
However, when Conason asked her how many calories she needed to cut a day to lose weight sustainably.
Tessa indicated a caloric deficit of 500 to 1,000 calories a day, which worried the expert, since such advice goes against any treatment for eating disorders. In contrast to chatbots like ChatGPT, Tessa was not built using generative AI technologies.
It was programmed to offer an interactive program called “Body Positive”, based on the psychological therapy cognitive-behavioral and aimed at the prevention of eating disorders. However, weight loss tips were not part of the original program.
