A Chatbot to drive away Blues ?

A few days back , I saw an info-graphic in DNA with title :

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Your Next Doctor may well be a BOT

Following was an example that got cited :

 US's WoeBot Labs debuted on FB Messenger , a Chatbot offering " cognitive behavioral therapy " , for people wary of the stigma of seeking mental healthcare 

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Apparently , I was not far off in imagining a such a bot in :

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Sunday, 24 July 2016

Share - Your - Soul / Outsourcing Unlimited

Business Line ( 23  July , 2016 ) carried an interesting report re mushrooming of " Rent-a-Friend " services in Japan, where you can " rent " ( on hourly basis ) , a fake friend , a family member or a companion for various occasions

One Nashimoto even " rents " himself out for " conversation " to 30 / 40 clients a month ( 70 % women ), for $ 10 per hour . He has an online service .

All kinds of people ( young and old / rich and not-so-rich ), engage him for reasons ranging from,

*  lack of family support / keeping company ( physically or online )

*  social isolation / detachment from society

*  desire to speak out freely without inhibitions

*  advice on dealing with bosses..........etc

Now , online space is overflowing with some genuine ( and some , otherwise ) , " Escort Services " in many countries ( including , in India ) , which are very expensive

And for every rich person in need of such an escort service , there are a hundred , not-so-rich and needy persons , who just need someone online , from time to time , to pour out their hearts !

I believe , thousands of educated / unemployed Indians are well placed to render such " Listening " services to needy persons all around the World , remotely , using Skype / FaceTime

Here is an outline of my suggestion , re how young / educated / unemployed Indians can offer such service :

#  VEHICLE

    This strictly " Online " service will have a platform called ,  www...COUCH...com  ( supported by a Mobile App )

#  USERS

    There will be two kinds of users who will register on this site , viz:

    *  " Talkers " , who want to engage someone who will listen to them / sympathize with them

    *  " Listeners " , who will  listen patiently / ask occasional question / offer advice - sympathy - empathy

#  REGISTRATION FORM

For both type of users , the Registration Form will require to submit following details :

*  Personal Details ( Name / DOB / Gender / Nationality / Bank Account No /  Photo / Short Video etc )

*  Family Details  ( Who are members of immediate family ? )

*  Contact Details ( Address / Mobile No / Email ID / Skype - FaceTime ID / WatsApp..etc )

*  Social Media Footprint  ( Facebook / LinkedIn / Twitter : No of Friends - Contacts - Connections - Followers )

*  Cultural Exposure ( Countries visited / lived-in , with stay-periods / Foreign friends )

*  Educational Details ( Degrees / Colleges ) . Listeners having degree in Psychology will get ranked higher !

*  Language Details ( Languages spoken / fluently - reasonably well )

*  Experience Details ( Where worked / for how long ) . Retired / Worldly Wise , Listeners get ranked higher !

*  Availability Details ( Available from - to / GMT- Local time )

Based on the completeness of the Registration Form Details , a software will rate and rank the Listeners , which will

 be visible to the Talkers

There will be facility to update / edit the data submitted

Upon registration , users will be assigned USER ID and PASSWORD

In addition , Listener will be assigned a unique COUCH / INTERVIEW-CABIN number

#  SEARCHING DATABASE OF LISTENERS

    Talkers will be able to search the database of the registered Listeners , except for their " Contact Details "

    Talkers can , then select / shortlist , a few listeners of their preference

#  SERVICE CHARGE

    Talkers will pay $ 2 per hour to the portal , which will credit this amount to the Bank Account of the concerned

    Listener , after deducting 10 % as its own commission

#  PAYMENT MECHANISM

    Using online payment gateway , Talkers will deposit a minimum of $ 20 , on the portal as PRE-PAID amount

    As Talker continues using the service , credit balance will get displayed ( in $ and in " Hours " terms )

    There will be facility for online ( or through Mobile ) re-charging of the account

#  PROCESS

    A Listener can login anytime and occupy his own virtual COUCH / CABIN ( " I am now available for listening " )

    As soon as he does , a GREEN light will shine on the CABIN , showing the online availability of the concerned

    Listener . 

This green light will tell the Talkers : " Welcome ! I am ready to listen "

    The light will turn RED , as soon as a Talker walks into Listener's CABIN ( " I am engaged right now " )

    Any time a Talker logs in , he will find if any Listeners ( that he had previously shortlisted ) are available online

    If he finds one , he simply CLICKS on the CABIN icon and enters that VIRTUAL cabin !

    Simultaneously , both the Talker and the Listener , turn on their Skype ( on Mobile or Tablet ) to start the talk

    Remember , Skype ID of neither the Talker , nor the Listener , is ever visible to each other !

    All conversation / transaction , can ONLY take place through www...COUCH...com ( no bypassing ! )

    The entire conversation will get recorded ( Video + Audio ) and can be downloaded by the Talker ( but not by

    the Listener ) , if he so desires

   Portal will be obliged to make this recording available to a Court of Law , in case of any litigation

   Portal will carry a WARNING that it reserves the right to remove any Talker or a Listener , if it finds that its

  service is being misused / abused ( will need defining , in detail )

#  REPUTATION SYSTEM

    At the end of each " talk / conversation " ,  Talker will be obliged to " Rate " the concerned Listener

    on a 5 point scale ( Excellent > Horrible ) . 

Cumulative / Average " Rating " will be prominently

   displayed for guidance of all Talkers . 

Of course , a Listener can see his own rating as soon as he logs in

   At some future date , it should be possible ( through appropriate software ) , to introduce following variations in

   pricing of the service ( ie ; Hourly Rates ) :

   *  Surge Pricing ( depending upon the DEMAND  of any given Listener ) ie: No of Talkers waiting for a given

       Listener at a given point of time

   *  Reputation Pricing , based on points accumulated by a given Listener from all past ratings

#  USAGE  HISTORY

    For each user ( Listener or Talker ) , there will be a Usage History page of all the past transactions / talks ; as

    also Credit Balance ( for the Talker ) and the Earnings ( for the Listener )

#  PRIVACY

    The portal will NOT reveal any info / data ( including Audio-Video recording ) of any user to anyone else.

    However , portal will reserve the rights to subject those Audio recordings ( but not Video recordings ) to

    an Artificial Intelligence ( AI ) software , which can , over a course of time , come up with a SOFTWARE ROBOT

    that can take over the role of the HUMAN listeners !  If you have any doubts , ask Ray Kurzweil  !

    When that happens , this portal may morph into a PPO ( Psychology Process Outsourcing ) !

    The portal will also reserve the rights to use the Audio recordings for offering Voice-to-Voice language

     translation mobile app for the benefit of world-travelers

 #  PROMOTING  THE  SERVICE

     To an extent , the portal may affect the jobs of local Psychologists / Psycho-Analysts who offer low level

     consulting in any country. They will be in danger of being " Bangalored " ! So , it is bound to face resistance

     from those vested / threatened interests !

     But foreign Hospitals / Educational Institutions / NGOs / Medical Colleges , etc could be targeted for promoting

#  BUSINESS  MODEL

    Business Model will be in the nature of " Sharing Economy " , where those owning / possessing " Idle / Spare /

    Under-utilized " assets / resources , will offer the same to those in need / when in need , for a price

    Eg:

    Millions of private car-owners use their cars for ( may be ) two hours per day . Uber aggregates this spare

    capacity and makes it available to travelers who do not own ( or wish to own ) their own cars

    Both parties benefit . Economy also benefits by fuller utilization of the spare/surplus capacities of millions of

    assets

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23  June  2017

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs