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The National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) is reportedly replacing its helpline staff with an AI chatbot named "Tessa," according to NPR.
NEDA, the largest eating disorder-focused nonprofit in the U.S., has now shut down the telephone helpline, which received nearly 70,000 calls last year.
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The hotline had a small staff of six paid workers and relied largely on volunteers. After unionizing due to burnout from calls during the pandemic, the six workers were told they would be let go effective June 1.
- NEDA subsequently said it would replace the helpers with the AI "wellness chatbot" known as Tessa.
- The bot is not as advanced as ChatGPT, nor is it designed for crisis support. Rather, it was trained to deliver a specific eating disorder prevention program called "Body Positive."
- People can still text "NEDA" to 741741 to text with a human volunteer at the Crisis Text Line.
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While NEDA and Tessa's creators believe the chatbot can handle more volume and offer evidence-based strategies, former workers and critics argue that it was an anti-union move and the bot cannot replace human
empathy.
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