Research Study: Decision-Making around Chatbots for Mental Wellbeing
Who are you?
Faye Kollig, a PhD candidate supervised by Dr. Casey Fiesler in the Information Science Department at the University of Colorado at Boulder
What is the study about?
The purpose of the research is to understand how individuals decide how and whether to use chatbots to support their emotional and mental wellbeing and generate ideas for interventions to support their decision-making processes. It is part of a broader research project focused on encouraging safe chatbot use and nonuse, and AI literacy. No part of this research is funded by or affiliated with any AI company.
Who can participate?
Anyone over the age of 18 who can complete all study procedures in English, and who currently uses chatbots or non-human conversational interfaces (like ChatGPT, Woebot, Gemini, Replika, Claude, and others) in a way they feel is supportive of their mental and emotional wellbeing. We are interested in whatever you define as mental wellbeing support - examples could include using a chatbot to support executive functioning, provide therapeutic interventions or coping strategies, or help think through personal problems. We are interested in people who use chatbots in these ways anywhere from once a week to multiple times daily.
What will I do?
This study has two main parts. For Part 1 (a diary study), you will be sent a daily prompt for one month to briefly reflect on one decision you made that day to use, or not use, a chatbot for mental wellbeing.
If you complete at least 22 prompts, you will schedule participation in Part 2 (a 2 hour virtual workshop with four or five other diary study participants) to reflect on your experiences and brainstorm ideas for how chatbot decision-making could be better supported, including a brief pre-workshop reflection activity.
Finally, you will complete a brief survey about your workshop experience and provide demographic information. You can also optionally provide feedback on a summary of the workshop you attended to correct or add information.
Will I be compensated for participating?
You can earn up to $70 USD via a virtual gift card for completing all parts of this study, depending on how many diary study prompts you complete ($1.25 per diary study prompt, and $35 for the workshop and pre- and post-workshop surveys). If you do not complete at least 80% of prompts, or if you never sign up for a workshop time, you will be compensated based on the number of prompts you completed. guaranteed.
Are there any risks in participating?
Because this study relates to personal experiences needing and using chatbots for mental wellbeing, some of the topics discussed in diary studies and workshops may be sensitive. You can choose to share your experiences in whatever level of detail you’re comfortable with, and you will not be expected to disclose specific or detailed information about any health conditions you have. All participants will be instructed not to repeat what is said inside workshops with others. However, because of format, confidentiality in workshops cannot be absolutely guaranteed.
How can I participate?
Please click the link below to go to our volunteering for participation form. It will ask you to confirm your eligibility and provide an email address so that a member of the research team can contact you to get you enrolled.
And please consider sharing this link with anyone you think might be interested!
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to the principal investigator, Faye Kollig, at faye.kollig@colorado.edu using “Chatbot Study” somewhere in the subject line.