Can an AI Chatbot Help Kids’ Mental Health?

WSJ Tech News Briefing

The Wall Street Journal

News, Tech News

4.6 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 17 January 2025

⏱️ 12 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Troodi is a mental-health chatbot built into a child-focused smartphone called Troomi. Part counselor, part friend, Troodi talks with kids about their anxieties. WSJ family and tech columnist Julie Jargon joins host Belle Lin to discuss why some kids and parents are turning to an AI chatbot. Plus, we’re tracking Elon Musk’s first 100 days in the new Trump White House as co-lead of the Department of Government Efficiency. WSJ columnist Tim Higgins joins for a preview. Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	What kind of weekend are you in the mood for?
0:03.0	Well, with Disney Plus, anything is possible.
0:06.0	Whether that be two days of twists and turns with only murders in the building,
0:11.0	drama and fine dining with The Bear,
0:13.0	or a journey back to feudal Japan with Shogun.
0:17.0	January weekends just got better with Disney Plus.
0:20.0	Tap the banner to learn more. 18 plus subscription required. Learn better with Disney Plus. Tap the banner to learn more.
0:22.1	18 plus subscription required.
0:24.0	Learn more at Disneyplus.com.
0:30.6	Welcome to Tech News Briefing.
0:33.4	It's Friday, January 17th.
0:35.7	I'm Bell Lynn for The Wall Street Journal.
0:38.7	We're tracking Elon Musk's first 100 days in the new Trump White House as co-lead of the Department of Government Efficiency, also known as Doge.
0:49.5	Our columnist Tim Higgins tells us what's on Musk's agenda as he brings his experience slashing costs
0:56.0	to the government. And then, the makers of a smartphone for kids have developed a mental health
1:02.8	chatbot, it's part counselor and part friend. We'll find out what some parents, kids, and therapists
1:09.8	are saying about the tech.
1:13.6	But first, we are days away from President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.
1:19.4	And as our colleagues in the newsroom prepare to report on Trump's first 100 days in office,
1:25.0	the tech news briefing podcast will be following Elon Musk's first 100
1:29.7	days as co-lead of the newly created Doge. Trump tapped Musk, along with the biotech founder Vivek Ramoswamy,
1:38.0	to lead the department that's tasked with cutting spending, eliminating regulation, and restructuring federal agencies.
	...

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