Aaron Wood, a former solider, launched the veterans help group, No Duff Photo: RNZ / Kate Pereyra Garcia
Warning: This story discusses self harm and suicide.
As Anzac Day approaches, a charity is taking veteran's support into its own hands - setting up an AI chatbot to provide therapy because it says veterans affairs is failing to do its job.
No Duff Charitable Trust created the chatbot and trained it in things like crisis support, mindfulness and breathing modules.
The charity is fed up with the lack of support available to veterans in this country, including one man who told Checkpoint he became suicidal while struggling to get support from Veteran's Affairs and dealing with a brain injury from his service.
No Duff co-founder Aaron Wood said the charity started out with the aim of providing support to veterans in need - any time, any place.
"We had volunteers we would put next to a veteran in crisis within two hours, 24/7 - 365 across Australasia. They would support that veteran and they would get that veteran to higher care as quickly as possible."
But that led to many of their volunteers burning out, he said, and new AI technology allowed them to try a different approach.
"Grassroots, admittedly, but something needs to be done and we're doing it."
The new chatbot was trained on custom data No Duff gathered during nine years of conversations with veterans.
It would have a team of clinicians and researchers keeping an eye on it and crisis triggers for when to raise the red flag.
It was still in the alpha stage - meaning more testing was needed before it was released to the wider veteran community.
'No more cheap booze and pokie machines'
The chatbot was the result of No Duff taking things into their own hands because government support just wasn't working for veterans, Wood said.
"This is an answer to that. It's certainly not designed or intended to circumvent the mental health system and the wider health system, it's designed to complement it."
"No more cheap booze and pokie machines and yellow food which never supported veterans anyway - more evidence based technology."
There were four veteran suicides in February and March this year alone, Wood said.
Veterans Affairs said it had reduced its backlog of claims by 500, down to 2300 and was upping the number of claims it was getting through each month - due to increased staffing.
The average waiting time to have a claim processed was about a year.
Veteran Gregg Johnson supported No Duff's chatbot, and said anything that could provide support for veterans was a good thing - but he thought it was wrong that a charity like No Duff was having to step in.
"It's disgusting - the whole veterans space is probably that way. We've seen it forever that it's taking these charities, and especially the work No Duff's done in the self harm, suicide mental health space."
"There's a complete lack of any sort of doing by government and we've seen that for years and years."
'Our people deserve better'
Johnson has a brain injury - which he said was the result of being consistently exposed to explosions - a condition sometimes called breacher's brain.
But it was a battle getting his brain injury recognised as a service-related condition, and then fighting for the support he needed.
"I got to a point of almost taking my own life due to the seriousness of my injury and probably the struggle I was having with Veteran's Affairs."
Eventually, his brain injury was accepted as service-related and months later Veteran's Affairs offered to set him up with a psychologist, but he said that wasn't appropriate for his needs.
Instead, he was now seeing a functional medicine doctor, who monitored blood and hormone levels - but that was through the private system, not Veteran's Affairs.
"Our people deserve better. We went away and served our country and yet when me and my peers asked for some support, it took almost three years, and I'm still not getting the support I probably need."
Meanwhile, a recent clinical trial at Dartmouth college found that an AI chatbot based on custom data and evidence-based practices could be as effective as a human therapy in treating mental health issues.
In a statement, a Veteran's Affairs spokesperson said veterans did not have to wait for treatment while their applications were being processed and if they had an urgent mental health need they would be seen immediately.
This included when a veteran had a mental health condition, terminal condition or was over 90 years old, the spokesperson said.
They said Veteran's Affairs also worked with the public health system, and paid for treatment in the public sector if waiting times were too long.
Where to get help:
- Need to Talk? Free call or text 1737 any time to speak to a trained counsellor, for any reason.
- Lifeline: 0800 543 354 or text HELP to 4357.
- Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 / 0508 TAUTOKO. This is a service for people who may be thinking about suicide, or those who are concerned about family or friends.
- Depression Helpline: 0800 111 757 or text 4202.
- Samaritans: 0800 726 666.
- Youthline: 0800 376 633 or text 234 or email talk@youthline.co.nz.
- What's Up: 0800 WHATSUP / 0800 9428 787. This is free counselling for 5 to 19-year-olds.
- Asian Family Services: 0800 862 342 or text 832. Languages spoken: Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, and English.
- Rural Support Trust Helpline: 0800 787 254.
- Healthline: 0800 611 116.
- Rainbow Youth: (09) 376 4155.
- OUTLine: 0800 688 5463.
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