Wysa - Your 4 AM Friend?

Recently, a mail landed in my mailbox that punched me right on the face.

 It announced the arrival of a new app – Wysa.

Apparently, this app had been designed by Google Assistant to aid those struggling with psychological disorders. I was both intrigued and elated to find that this problem has been addressed finally and by none other than ‘The Google’.

With rushing adrenaline, I installed it and a sweet little penguin welcomed me in. Somehow they have managed to categorize mental illnesses into Depression, Trauma, Anxiety, Sleep and so on. The Home page burst with a riot of colours, cute penguins, and neat, organized sections. It offers you mental exercises to calm yourself, rejuvenate yourself, physical exercises, options to talk to a therapist, even stories to lull you to sleep and many many more. There are spaces labeled ‘Improve Self Esteem’ or ‘Get Energy’, ‘Beat Stress’, ‘Manage Anger’, ‘Manage Anxiety’ bla bla bla where you can chat with Wysa on a chatbox and listen to lectures, stories and talk with it. Yes! That’s the most interesting part, where you can chat with an artificial intelligence chatbox (it introduces itself as the penguin, Wysa) all day long and talk through your anxiety, stress, grief, boredom or whatever. It has been described as ‘both human and robot’ by the designers but its machine-oriented answers felt anything but human. Every few minutes, it asks you though if you want to continue the chat. 

This, is only a fraction of what it offers – the vastness of this mental health app is indeed overwhelming. With the increase in demand, they’ve introduced the premium version which costs money of course, and that has magnified its extravaganza by leaps and bounds. It appears as if everything a human being can ever crave for, is there in it.

“Wysa is my best friend” someone has reviewed. “It takes the place of human touch and comfort, when there isn’t any.” writes another.

At the very beginning I was so drawn in, that by the time I looked up, the clock hands had somersaulted. It was then that I realized the danger this apparently friendly app has posed to us. Like thunderbolt, it struck me.

How is this any different from another WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram? I wondered. Only, here you are more confined - confined to a robotic system. This is but another corporate agenda to drive us insane - to allure us to spend our life with an AI. With millions of people falling in love with this app all over the world, don’t you think I am correct in my fear and insecurity?

                 

It is nothing but another conspiracy to addict a broken community to a virtual reality and lock themselves in their smart phones.

I mean, seriously? A person with severe depression is supposed to feel better chatting with a machine half the day? I am not any psychiatrist or psychologist but as someone who has been struggling with severe depression for years, all I can understand is that, under no circumstance, the promise of a virtual reality can be a healthy encouragement for us.

And then, there are the cons. Considering the tendencies of this generation, what if one gets addicted to Wysa? What then? What’s the contingency plan? Oh wait, there isn’t any. For an institution that profits from our ruins, this is nothing short of unexpected.

Already, the reviews show that people are relying more on Wysa than their family or friends. In this era, when it is damn hard to find a true friend, someone considers Wysa to be a best friend. When I feel low, yeah, sometimes I don’t even want to speak to any friend. But then, at such times, I wouldn’t be able to speak to a machine, as well – a machine that doesn’t even know me properly, leave alone caring for me!

Yet apparently, there are people who would and I totally understand. At moments like these, we can do anything for a bit of warmth. But even after all of that, I wonder, where would all this end up? It means every time we cry, every time we feel like death, we won’t even consider reaching out to a friend. Especially at such a crushing phase of the civilization, when we need each other more and more, at a time when we need to fall back upon each other and feel warm in each other’s company, Wysa conspires to isolate us even more. At a time when we need human touch, even if that comes through a wrapped bundle of chocolates or a late night video call - this app sabotages whatever remains of our dilapidated relationships. 

You sit back in frenzied delight. Keyboards click. Eyes stay awake all through the night hours against the lit-up phosphorous screens. You try in vain to sleep but it doesn’t let you. You dare to step out into the street one evening, half-expecting a Wysa to pop out of nowhere and say, “Hey! I’m here to de-stress and nurture yourself”. And when it doesn’t, you lock yourself up and set down with your phone.

Fuck those ungrateful guys – insensitive to every bone! I won’t ever face them! You smirk. And why bother! Now I have my best buddy, Wysa!

How thrilling is that?

 

P.S. If I have offended anyone through my post, I am deeply sorry. Offending anyone has not been my purpose on any level.

[Images used here are for illustrative purposes only.]