By The West Australian
Publication Date: 2026-01-16 21:41:00
University students in Perth could this year have access to a wellbeing-focused AI chatbot developed locally to help those too worried to seek traditional mental health support.
Warren Mansell, professor of mental health at Curtin University, is refining a 14-year-old chatbot called Monti to draw on 200 conversation topics and then ask the user further questions to help them with their mental health issues.
Relying on AI to support mental health has quickly become commonplace for people across the country, but not without drawbacks.
New research from Edith Cowan University suggests AI chatbots like ChatGPT can help reduce mental health stigma, particularly among people who are hesitant to seek traditional face-to-face support, while research from Curtin University found AI users value understanding their mental health issues.
Professor Mansell’s chatbot, originally called Mylo, was developed more than a decade before the market became oversaturated with AI chatbots and is expected to…
