Introducing DJK ⏤ the AI sleep coach
He’s accessible wherever you are and here to help guide you to a better night's sleep. Meet Digital John Kirwan (DJK).
Imagine this. You pull out your phone and have a private conversation with a digital human. They have the latest expert knowledge from thousands of sources. They have learnt from millions of people and conversations, and continue to grow the more you engage.
We strongly believe that digital humans and therapists, that are always available, non-judgemental, combine the knowledge of experts and resources at scale, will play an important role in the future of mental wellbeing and mental health.
Digital John Kirwan is a step towards this vision becoming a reality.
Ready to meet DJK?
What is DJK?
Digital John Kirwan (DJK) is an AI-enabled sleep coach developed by Mentemia in collaboration with UneeQ digital humans and Ako AI to help people solve their everyday problems with sleep.
DJK will help craft an individual sleep plan for you, by uncovering the things that are impacting your sleep and giving you practical solutions to solve them.
The conversations and advice have been crafted with a strong evidence based approach, combined with the learned experience of the real JK.
We’ve designed DJK to facilitate a real, recurring relationship that delivers ongoing, regular advice.
Take a look at how we turned Sir John Kirwan (wrinkles and all) into a digital human.
This first release of DJK is just the beginning. While he’s starting as a sleep coach, he’ll continue to learn and grow. In the future, DJK (or another digital human) will be able to help you with more areas, such as stress and anxiety.
Good sleep has incredible benefits for your mental wellbeing while not-so-good sleep can negatively impact it. Sleep is the key to good mental wellbeing and the foundation of a happy, healthy life, which is why we decided to tackle sleep first.
DJK is available now for Mentemia Premium customers. If you’d like to request Mentemia Premium and this new AI tool for you and your workplace click here.
Why AI is the future of mental wellbeing and mental health
Maintaining optimal wellbeing is tricky. The challenges of modern life including hyper-connectedness and technology make it harder for people to switch off and have blurred the boundaries between work and home.
Add major global events, like the Covid-19 pandemic, and people are feeling more stressed than ever. 7 out of 10 people say 2020 has been the most stressful year of their working lives.
This year we’ve also experienced the distinction between personal and professional life become even more blurred with the monumental shift towards working from home.
It’s clear that Covid-19 has negatively impacted the mental health of the global workforce. In a recent study of 15,000 people across the world, 78% of people surveyed said the pandemic has negatively affected their mental health.
On top of that, there are shortages in mental health workers and psychiatrists and barriers to accessing them, due to reasons including waiting-lists, cost and stigma.
The good news is that people are talking about mental wellbeing and mental health more than ever before, and actively seeking ways to keep well, thrive, and bounce back from stress.
We need to make an impact at scale and that’s why digital solutions are needed.
People are ready to use new technology and AI to help their mental wellbeing
Recent global research showed that 82% of people believe that robots can support their mental health better than humans can. In addition to that, 68% of people would prefer to talk to a robot over their manager about stress and anxiety at work.
That might come as a surprise to some, as connecting with each other is an intrinsic part of who we are as humans, and has long been the bedrock of mental health services.
There are a few reasons why people prefer using AI and talking to digital humans for mental health and wellbeing matters.
A digital human is unbiased. The conversation is a judgement free zone. And you can receive instant answers to health questions, without even having to leave the house.
While the human touch and talking to a real person will always have a key role in mental health and mental wellbeing services, we see AI and digital humans as fulfilling an important role of reaching many people, easily and often.
What’s more, the future of AI digital humans is incredibly exciting. AI can be used to track language, tone of voice, body language, and other cues that a person could be in trouble or at risk of a crisis. This could be a real game-changer in both prevention and treatment of mental health, and keeping people across the world well and thriving.
Your chance to ask DJK anything!
We need your help to help Digital JK learn ⏤ and we want to hear what you want to learn about sleep, mental wellbeing, or anything else!
Submit your questions to Digital JK and he’ll answer the top questions.
Getting DJK for you and your workplace
DJK is just one of the tools in the Mentemia app. Our wider platform and mental wellbeing ecosystem allows businesses to use technology to help support their people at scale.
We recently released new business tiers (Starter, Plus and Premium) as part of our offering for workplaces. DJK is a Premium feature and available now.