The drug harm reduction platform Drugs and me have launched an innovative AI drug chatbot. This new function on their site is designed to provide accurate and non-judgmental information about drugs and harm reduction. Drugs and me aim to make drug use safer, healthier and smarter. The chatbot is a groundbreaking tool aimed at aiding individuals in making informed decisions about drug use.
Currently, there are two similar chatbots that exist: Mindheal bot in English and Toxi bot in Spanish. Drug and me’s chatbot stands out by being bilingual and linking to original sources for in-depth information. The bot also suggests follow-up questions to encourage continued engagement and learning.
Features of the Chatbot
- Conversational Interface: The chatbot can hold conversations, guiding users to share relevant information and assisting those having a bad experience with drugs.
- Language and Accessibility: The chatbot is available in English and Spanish, with language settings automatically adjusting based on the user’s location.
- Trusted Information Sources: The chatbot has access to a curated database from reputable sources like DrugScience, Psychonautwiki and Exchange Supplies, among others. This way we minimise the AI hallucinations and maximise accurate information. The chatbot provides links to the original sources during the conversation.
- Sensitive to Problematic Behaviours: A new feature coming in January will enable the chatbot to detect signs of problematic behaviors like suicidal attempts or potential overdoses, providing links and contacts to local services, first, in the UK, then, worldwide.
Financial Model and Business Strategy
- The chatbot currently operates on the founder’s savings.
- The chatbot is aimed to be freely available to people who use drugs, their families, and health workers.
- Therefore, Drugs and me will offer white label licenses to organisations for them to provide the chatbot for free to their clients.
Technical Aspects and Privacy
The chatbot combines multiple large language models from OpenAI with a proprietary architecture. Conversations are stored to monitor the quality of the responses and improve the chatbot. There are a couple of ways for collecting feedback anonymously. One is at the end of the conversation, when the user clicks the red button ‘End conversation’, a feedback form comes up. People can also send their feedback at any point during the conversation through a message box that appears when they click the blue button ‘Feedback’. Drugs and me respect user’s privacy by only storing IP addresses for 24 hours to limit message frequency. These are stored safely and independently from the conversations.
The Founder of Drugs and me, Ivan Ezquerra-Romano, is volunteering to update the interactions table by Tripsit. The chatbot will have access to the updated database, further expanding its knowledge base.
There is an interesting intersection between harm reduction, drug education and AI, which Drugs and me are spearheading to provide valuable resources and information to people that use drugs.
Drugs and me are enthusiastic about the potential impact of our AI drug chatbot in providing vital information and support to individuals. For more information, please contact ivan@drugsand.me