How AI is being used to help tackle mental health issues

Mental health issues greatly affect people in the UK. A government report entitled Thriving at Work highlighted that 15 per cent of workers have some symptoms of existing mental health conditions, which according to ONS labour figures means that just over 4.9m workers will experience a mental health issue. Thankfully businesses are following the general trend towards being more open about mental health, and in recent years have begun to put a stronger focus on employee wellbeing. This has included introducing simple workplace benefits like discounted gym membership or free fruit in the canteen through to more profound changes, such as introducing greater flexible working options to improve employees' work-life balance and even providing counselling services for staff dealing with mental health issues. Although this is the right thing to do, these actions are not entirely altruistic, as business leaders understand that when the workforce is unwell, the bottom line suffers.