AI Detects Cognitive Distortions in Text Messages

Artificial intelligence (AI) is now able to detect cognitive distortions from text messages. A new study published in Psychiatric Services, an American Psychiatric Association peer-reviewed journal, shows how AI natural language processing (NLP) can detect cognitive disorders in texts as effectively as human clinicians. "Recent advancements in mobile phone–based mental health interventions, combined with advancements in computational methods of language analysis, have created new possibilities for developing technology-assisted interventions," wrote the researchers from the University of Washington School of Medicine. The American Psychological Association defines cognitive distortion as thinking, beliefs, or perceptions that are either false or flawed that can happen to all people to some degree. There are numerous ways a person's thoughts may be inaccurate or skewed.