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[00:01.20] The mental health chatbot Earkick greets users with a friendly-looking panda that could fit easily in a children’s program.

[00:13.41] When users talk about anxiety, the panda gives the kind of comforting statements that a trained mental health professional, called a therapist, would say.

[00:26.96] Then it might suggest breathing exercises or give advice on how to deal with stress.

[00:36.26] Earkick is one of hundreds of free chatbots aimed at dealing with a mental health crisis among young people.

[00:46.61] 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.

[01:01.23] Whether these chatbots, or apps, provide a simple self-help tool or mental health treatment is important to the growing digital health industry.

[01:14.24] 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).

[01:28.85] The industry’s position is now coming under more careful examination with recent developments of chatbots powered by artificial intelligence (AI).

[01:43.46] The technology uses a large amount of data to copy human language.

[01:50.36] The upsides are clear: the chatbots are free; they are available 24 hours a day; and people can use them in private.

[02:03.38] 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.

[02:19.85] Vaile Wright is a psychologist and technology director with the American Psychological Association.

[02:31.27] She said users of these chatbots, “have no way to know whether they’re actually effective.”

[02:38.71] Wright added that the chatbots are not the same as traditional mental health treatment.

[02:46.15] But, she said, they could help some people with less severe mental and emotional problems.

[02:55.18] Earkick’s website states that the app does not “provide any form of medical care, medical opinion, diagnosis or treatment.”

[03:07.93] Some health lawyers say such claims are not enough.