I spent 2 weeks chatting with a robot about my anxiety - here's how it went

Erin Brodwin

Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide, and it can kill. Yet scientists know surprisingly little about why it happens and how best to treat it.

We do know that talking seems to help - especially under the guidance of a licensed mental health professional. But therapy is expensive, inconvenient, and often hard to approach. A recent estimate suggests that of the roughly one in five Americans who have a mental illness, close to two-thirds have gone at least a year without treatment.

Several Silicon Valley-style approaches to the problem have emerged: There are apps that replace the traditional psychiatry office with texting, and chat rooms where you can discuss your problems anonymously online.

The newest of these tech-based treatments is Woebot, an artificially intelligent chatbot (and recently launched app) that uses the principles of cognitive-behavioral therapy, or CBT - one of the most heavily researched clinical approaches to treating depression.

I spent two weeks using the tool. Here's how it went.

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