The mental health chatbot Earkick greets users with a friendly-looking panda that could fit easily in a children’s program.

心理健康聊天机器人 Earkick 用一只看起来很友好的熊猫来迎接用户，它很适合儿童节目。

When users talk about anxiety, the panda gives the kind of comforting statements that a trained mental health professional, called a therapist, would say. Then it might suggest breathing exercises or give advice on how to deal with stress.

当用户谈论焦虑时，熊猫会给出一种安慰性的说法，就像训练有素的心理健康专家（称为治疗师）会说的那样。 然后它可能会建议呼吸练习或提供如何应对压力的建议。

Earkick is one of hundreds of free chatbots aimed at dealing with a mental health crisis among young people. But the co-founder of Earkick, Karin Andrea Stephan, says he and the other creators do not “feel comfortable” calling their chatbots a therapy tool.

Earkick 是数百个旨在应对年轻人心理健康危机的免费聊天机器人之一。 但 Earkick 的联合创始人 Karin Andrea Stephan 表示，他和其他创作者对于将他们的聊天机器人称为治疗工具感到“不舒服”。

Whether these chatbots, or apps, provide a simple self-help tool or mental health treatment is important to the growing digital health industry. Since the apps do not claim to diagnose or treat medical conditions, they do not need approval from the Food and Drug Administration (or FDA).

无论这些聊天机器人还是应用程序提供简单的自助工具或心理健康治疗，对于不断发展的数字健康行业都很重要。 由于这些应用程序并不声称可以诊断或治疗医疗状况，因此它们不需要美国食品和药物管理局（或 FDA）的批准。

The industry’s position is now coming under more careful examination with recent developments of chatbots powered by artificial intelligence (AI). The technology uses a large amount of data to copy human language.

随着人工智能 (AI) 驱动的聊天机器人的最新发展，该行业的地位现在正受到更仔细的审视。 该技术使用大量数据来复制人类语言。

The upsides are clear: the chatbots are free; they are available 24 hours a day; and people can use them in private.

优点很明显：聊天机器人是免费的； 他们全天 24 小时待命； 人们可以私下使用它们。

Now for the downsides: there is limited data that the chatbots improve mental health; and they have not received FDA approval to treat conditions like depression.

现在说说缺点：聊天机器人可以改善心理健康的数据有限； 而且它们尚未获得 FDA 批准用于治疗抑郁症等疾病。

Vaile Wright is a psychologist and technology director with the American Psychological Association. She said users of these chatbots, “have no way to know whether they’re actually effective.”

维尔·赖特 (Vaile Wright) 是美国心理学会的心理学家和技术总监。 她说这些聊天机器人的用户“无法知道它们是否真的有效。”

Wright added that the chatbots are not the same as traditional mental health treatment. But, she said, they could help some people with less severe mental and emotional problems.

赖特补充说，聊天机器人与传统的心理健康治疗不同。 但是，她说，它们可以帮助一些精神和情感问题不太严重的人。

Earkick’s website states that the app does not “provide any form of medical care, medical opinion, diagnosis or treatment.” Some health lawyers say such claims are not enough.

Earkick 的网站指出，该应用程序不“提供任何形式的医疗护理、医疗意见、诊断或治疗”。 一些健康律师表示，这样的说法还不够。