Artificial Intelligence is poised to revolutionize countless service sectors in the coming years, and the addiction and mental/behavioral health space is no exception. Various applications of Generative AI (GenAI) are either in use or coming soon.
Examples:
-
AI-generated therapists that provide on-demand 1:1 counseling
-
App-based virtual companions ("sober buddies") to help individuals at risk of relapse
-
Suicide prevention AIs that keep at-risk individuals in contact long enough for the real prevention specialists to engage
Regardless of the technology, these applications are based on a client talking to an AI chatbot just as they would their human therapist, meeting facilitator, or peers in a mutual support meeting.
Because at the end of the day, recovery is a conversation.
Recovery Movie Meetups enhances these discussions by incorporating visual depictions of addiction and recovery characters and themes from the movies featured in our program.
To us, seeing is a great path towards healing.
But what if Hollywood movies weren't the only source that were available?
With the rapid advancements in AI video rendering technology, it is now possible to create and deliver highly personalized addiction and recovery scenario videos, or “mini-movies,” specifically tailored to address an individual’s unique addiction or dual-diagnosis mental health challenges during treatment.
Here’s an example of a simple GenAI mini-movie we recently created to help motivate a client to change their addictive behaviors by illustrating the potential impact on their family:
Here’s another example of a mini-movie designed to motivate a client to stay committed to their recovery journey by showcasing the benefits of adhering to a recovery plan after completing treatment:
In the next few years, these personalized mini-movies won’t just be watched by clients—they will feature the clients as the central characters.
The same deep learning technologies used to make “deepfake” videos will make it possible for a client to actually star in their own mini-movie.
We call this Audiovisual Immersion Therapy (AIT). Here's how it works:
Individual therapists or facility clinicians will upload a photograph or 3D scan of the client's face, some photographs of loved ones, and then enter text prompts into the AIT interface like...
##Client has suffered from an AUD for last 10 years, voluntarily committed to treatment, has wife aged 40 and son aged 15, fears losing his job and his marriage...##
The system would then render AIT mini-movies that the client could watch either 1:1 with their therapist, or in mutual support meetings.
At first these mini-movies would be based on simple pre-established scene templates like those featured in the videos above.
With machine learning, AI could eventually generate entirely new locations, storylines, dialogue, and set designs independently, using the client’s complete medical and biographical history as training data.
Clinicians could then quality-check their "pre-render", and if they determined the mini-movie lacked sufficient therapeutic value, they could make adjustments and render an entirely new version with minimal effort.
Here are some hypothetical AIT mini-movies using generative AI.
In critical self-reevaluation exercises, a client could watch themselves:
-
Being handed a pink slip by an employer with a zero-tolerance drug and alcohol policy
-
Living on skid row, begging for handouts to buy beer, or offering sexual favors in order to score some heroin
-
Connected to life support in an ICU as their loved ones hold hands and nervously pray for their recovery from a fentanyl overdose (see video sample #1 above)
-
Handcuffed and wearing an orange prison jumpsuit as a judge convicts them to 30 years for vehicular manslaughter
In inspirational self-affirmation exercises, a client could watch themselves…
-
Joyously reuniting with their spouse and young children after they return from rehab
-
Graduate Summa Cum Laude from a university, with their family members celebrating the accomplishment (see video sample #2 above)
-
Receive a new and better job offer from the same boss who fired them 6 months earlier
The potential benefits of AIT are potentially enormous. If our existing clients' experience with the Recovery Movie Meetups Program is any barometer, we may see:
-
Enhanced Self-Awareness: When a client sees their lived experiences play out on screen it may help them better understand the patterns, triggers, and consequences of their addiction
-
Emotional Catharsis: Reliving pivotal moments in their lives may facilitate the release of pent-up emotions, leading to emotional healing (this could be especially powerful in trauma counseling)
-
Empathy: Viewing their life from a third-person perspective could encourage self-compassion, reduce feelings of guilt or shame, and help individuals forgive themselves
-
Strengthened Connections: Sharing the mini-movie with loved ones or a support group could foster understanding, empathy, stronger relationships and faster healing
-
Validation: Seeing their story portrayed can validate their struggles and achievements, reinforcing their journey as meaningful, deserving of recognition, and ultimately heroic
AIT mini-movies may still be a few years away, but they have the potential to become a dynamic, low-cost, and scalable therapeutic complement to the Hollywood films currently used in Recovery Movie Meetups mutual support meetings at licensed facilities worldwide.
Questions, Comments or Concerns about AIT?
Just email us at:
