The Trevor Project Introduces New Virtual Persona To Train Crisis Counselors
Image via The Trevor Project
Since the beginning of the year, The Trevor Project—the largest suicide prevention organization for LGBTQ+ youth— has been using artificial intelligence to train its crisis counselors.
The program, called the Crisis Contact Simulator, reenacts conversations for counselors in training to learn how to respond to in-crisis individuals. At the time of its launch, it only came with one “persona,” named ‘Trevor’, though a new chatbot is joining the mix starting this week.
‘Drew’, the new persona, is a fictional person in their early 20s living in California, who is facing issues due to bullying and harassment.
According to Engadget, The Trevor Project has trained more than 1,000 counselors using its original chatbot, complementing its other training methods such as in-person learning.
While it doesn’t replace face-to-face training, the AI tool allows new applications to complete roleplay sessions according to their schedule. Plus, it brings an accurate representation of today’s youth to the counselors, including “realistic” capitalization and punctuation within the chats.
"Starting from the first conception of the Crisis Contact Simulator two years ago, it has always been our hope to develop a variety of training roleplay persons that represent the diverse experiences and intersectional identities of the LGBTQ+ young people we serve, each with their own stories and feelings,” said Dan Fichter, The Trevor Project’s Head of AI and Engineering.
“We’re excited to deploy Drew with our trainees to offer a wider variety of practice scenarios and narratives, which will better prepare them to connect with any young person in a moment of crisis when the time comes.”
If you or a loved one is in need of help, reach out to The Trevor Project here. Crisis counselors are available 24/7, 365 days, and conversations are 100% confidential.
[via Engadget, cover image via The Trevor Project]
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