Table 2.
Characteristics of chatbots regarding insomnia and depression in the review (n=16).
| Targeted area and app name | Description | Main feature | Operating system | Available for download? | ||
| Insomnia |
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Autonomous AI chatbot | Based on AIa and deep learning, an AI chatbot for people with insomnia that includes natural language processing principles, such as stemming and a bag-of-words. Training data are provided by the app. | The chatbot is designed as a human chat to reduce anxiety through pleasant conversations. The app includes (1) training data, (2) training data “bag of words,” (3) feed-forward neural net, and (4) natural language processing. | Not mentioned | No | |
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ExpiWell | The ExpiWell app has a prescheduled “My Sleep Programme” and a user-accessible “Resources” section. The content is tailored to participant responses, using branching logic. | The app consists of 6 weekly core modules and a user-initiated “Resources” section. Content with tailored feedback is provided with access to module summaries. | Not mentioned | No | |
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Sleep Ninja | Sleep Ninja is a CBTb for insomnia–based smartphone app targeting various sleep difficulties in adolescents. | The app uses psychoeducation, stimulus control, sleep hygiene education, and sleep-focused cognitive therapy to improve sleep. Its features are based on user input and sleep profiles. Users complete 6 training sessions and finish with a black belt in sleep. | Android and iOS | Yes | |
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WeChat Mini Program | eCBTIc will be delivered using the program via the WeChat app. eCBTI is efficient, flexible, and time-saving, and may improve mood and quality of life compared with face-to-face CBTId. | The app provides daily personalized support, encompassing behavioral and cognitive elements, along with relaxation audios and sleep hygiene education following CBTI guidelines. | Android and iOS | Yes | |
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CBT-I Coach | The CBT-I Coach app was designed to supplement face-to-face CBTe therapy for insomnia and improve adherence to the protocol by completing CBT for insomnia tasks. | The app includes education on sleep processes, positive sleep routines, and environments. It features a sleep diary, tools, guided exercises, reminders for sleep habits, and alarms for prescribed bedtime and wake times. | Android and iOS | Yes | |
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KANOPEE | KANOPEE is a smartphone app for insomnia; it uses a virtual agent for autonomous screening and interventions during COVID-19. | KANOPEE uses C# in Unity 3D with a virtual agent named Louise, whose natural voice and body movements were recorded using motion capture technologies. The interaction scenario adapts to the user’s answers through decision trees. | Android and iOS | Yes | |
| Depression |
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XiaoNan | XiaoNan is a chatbot powered by open-source conversational AI RASA. Its text content is based on CBT principles approved by professional therapists. | XiaoNan accepts both text and voice messages. Voice messages are transcribed using a natural speech recognition service from the IFLYTEK open platform before being processed by the chatbot’s natural language understanding module. | Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS | Yes | |
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Woebot | Woebot uses a fully automated, relational conversational agent to deliver evidence-based therapeutic elements in brief conversations. | This self-guided intervention uses natural language processing and machine learning to incorporate elements of CBT, interpersonal psychotherapy for adolescents, and dialectical behavior therapy. | Android | Yes | |
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XiaoE | XiaoE is a CBT-based chatbot, which interacts automatically with users through text, images, and voice, primarily for depression screening, prevention, and self-help. | Its chatbot dialog system is built on the open-source RASA framework. Utilizes natural language processing and deep learning techniques. | Android | Yes | |
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DPs | The chatbot prototype explores personalized agents with various elements and degrees. | The system allows users to customize their name, gender, avatar, and social roles. It supports personalized modules for behavioral activation and sleep hygiene, with content selected based on user feedback. | Android | Yes | |
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Tess | Tess is an AI chatbot for depression and anxiety. It supports therapy-based conversations and adjusts interventions based on user feedback. | Tess is an AI chatbot that supports CBT, emotion-focused therapy, and solution-focused brief therapy. | Android and iOS | Yes | |
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DEPRA | The DEPRA chatbot supports early detection of depression. | DEPRA, developed using Dialogflow and Node.js, communicates with participants via Facebook Messenger. Data are stored in an AWSf database managed with a MySQL Workbench client. | Android and iOS | Yes | |
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CARO | CARO is an empathetic chatbot app that provides medical advice for major depression. | This study used automated metrics, namely, the Bilingual Evaluation Understudy score and Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers score, and the text is classified into conversations or medical advice. | Not mentioned | No | |
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Kokoro-App | A smartphone CBT app that supports self-monitoring, behavioral activation, and cognitive restructuring skills. | The app has 4 parts: sessions, mind maps, actions, and thoughts. It allows users to enter details of situations, emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. | Not mentioned | No | |
| Insomnia and depression |
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Emohaa | A CBT-based conversational agent for reducing mental distress that has demonstrated significant improvements in depression and insomnia. | This conversational agent has 2 platforms: a template-based platform with predefined options and exercises based on CBT principles and a generative dialog platform that allows open-ended conversations and provides emotional support. | Not mentioned | No | |
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MIND MORE | The app analyzed the relationships among sleep quality, memory complaints, depressive symptoms, and app usability and adherence. It is a multimodal CBT for insomnia app with sleep education components. | The main sleep hygiene education program has 3 sessions that include quizzes to evaluate user learning. It helps users understand the mechanisms sustaining insomnia and correct unhelpful sleep-related beliefs, anxiety, arousal, and sleep-disruptive habits. This improves adherence to the app’s recommendations. | Android and iOS | Yes | |
aAI: artificial intelligence.
bCBT: cognitive behavioral therapy.
ceCBTI: electronic cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia.
dCBTI: cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia.
eCBT: cognitive behavioral therapy.
fAWS: Amazon Web Services.