An AI tool that can be used for good…in terms of Neurodivergence and Mental Health

Author Sarah O'Brien, LCSW

Integrate! Network

Jul 24, 2023

Topics in Blog:

Learn more about Sarah O’Brien, LCSW as your guide
Explore the Goblin. Tools for Mental Health and Neurodivergent support
Key features of the Goblin. Tools
Join our community events
Explore our T-Shirts
Deep dive into our free resources

Objectives:

-Employ at least one feature of Goblin. Tools discussed in your workflow this week.

Outcomes:

-Consider a live or on-demand way to be a part of our community in August

-Set a reminder on your phone to return to this blog and tell us your experience with Goblin.Tool

About Sarah O’Brien

Sarah (she/her) is a Virginia-Based Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW, LCSW-C),trauma-informed and trained; psychotherapist, substance use/addiction therapist, and she holds specialized certifications in Anxiety treatment and Telemental Health treatment. She is also a writer, creator, advocate, partner of someone with an addiction, and proud dog mama. She founded Thrive and Shine Counseling in 2016 after feeling burned out from nearly 9 years serving in public mental health community services boards and hating the system and structure in those places. She started her own practice to do it her way and get away from unrealistic tracking results of clients’ progress. It takes what it takes for folks, and she’s okay with it being a long process at times.

AI to Support Mental Health

I recently learned from a client about a nifty AI tool. They shared with me a little of their experience, and so much applies to many of my clients, and I’m sure others, too, I wanted to write about it and share it with others. There is much to be learned with AI and its uses for mental health care, treatment, or even as a guide for things individuals with mental health diagnoses struggle to address on their own. Although we must be cautious, we can understand some benefits as they exist.

Goblin. Tools

The Goblin.Tools website has several features or functions. This free-to-use site advertises in its “About” section that it was designed for people with neurodivergence and difficulty with task completion. I’ll outline each feature/function and how it can assist someone struggling with certain mental health symptoms.

Magic To Do

This feature allows you to input a task you need to do and it will provide steps to complete to accomplish the overall task. Some examples of tasks to input are:

How to fix HVAC,
Find an apartment for rent,
How to clean my kitchen.

Then the AI spits out am ordered list of steps to complete to accomplish the entire task—the AI breaks down a big task into smaller, manageable steps. And even more, if you need to break it down further, you can add a subtask and generate more steps than originally offered.

Example: “Finding rideshare for work” (phrase I typed in to ‘add new item’ bar)

 Identify rideshare platforms available

 Research the reputation and user reviews of each platform

 Compare the prices and availability of rideshares on different platforms

 Determine the most convenient and reliable rideshare platform for work

 Download and register an account with the chosen rideshare platform

 Familiarize yourself with the app's features and functions

 Enter your work address as the destination for the rideshare

 Check for available rideshare options on the app

 Request a ride for your desired time and date

 Verify the details of the ride, including driver information and estimated

arrival time

 Confirm the ride request and wait for the driver to arrive

 Enjoy the rideshare journey to work!

Formalizer

This feature allows you to turn something you want to say into a more formal way of

saying it. You do this by typing in the phrase or idea you want to say into the first text

box area. And then, you can choose options from a drop-down menu on whether you

want it to “sound more formal,” “sound more professional,” “sound less emotional” etc.

Pick what you desire and click “convert” and it spits out a new phrase. A few examples

below.

Example 1: “You really pissed me off the other day when you refused to leave when I asked,” is what I typed into the text box. I chose “less emotional” from the drop-down menu and here is the AI phrase: I was quite bothered the other day when you chose not to leave when I asked.
Example 2: “My skills include writing, excel spreadsheets, reading for detail, finding errors, creating unique solutions to problems, and doing my part on a project or team with other people” is what I typed in the text box. I chose “more to the point (unwaffle)” from the drop-down menu and here is the AI phrase:
Skills: writing, excel, attention to detail, error detection, problem-solving, teamwork.

This is an interesting feature to use for things like job applications, resume writing to highlight experience and skills, sending a difficult boundary message to someone, and expressing feelings appropriately—when our mental health symptoms get in the way of doing this well. For instance, it may be hard for someone with past trauma to think of the things they are good at or skills they possess for their resume because they struggle with low confidence, shame, and a negative outlook about themselves and what they can offer. Or for someone who struggles with people-pleasing behaviors, having assistance wording messages to set clear boundaries with others could be helpful when the track our brain is currently on doesn’t allow for language or perspective about other ways to communicate something important to us.

Judge

This feature reads the tone of a text you input. Now, this is a little tricky because the AI is taking the literal words used and determining tone. AI is leaving out inflection in voice, volume, body language, facial expressions and this may all contribute to the overall ‘tone’ of a message. Be careful with this one, seems like a place AI easily could get it wrong because it can’t ‘read’ the entire situation or person conveying the message, even if the message was conveyed via text. (Pssssst, listen up: that means ALL of us likely will struggle with accurately understanding the tone of what someone says without additional communication, i.e. body language and facial expressions. If we’re only using text to communicate with others, we’re probably missing some key details.) Put your message in the text box and ask the AI to ‘judge’ the tone of the phrase or message. “Am I misreading the tone of this?” might be your thought before you use this feature. Click “judge” button to see the results.

Example: “Thanks for the invite, but I'll pass” is what I typed in the text box.
Here is the AI explanation:
Based on the given text, "Thanks for the invite, but I'll pass," the emotional tone seems to be polite and neutral. The person expressing gratitude by saying "Thanks for the invite" indicates a sense of appreciation. However, the phrase "but I'll pass" implies a decline or refusal of the invitation. While it suggests a lack of interest, the tone remains relatively neutral and does not convey strong negative emotions. It seems like a straightforward response, without any additional emotional subtleties.

Estimator

This feature allows you to put in a task you need to complete and will spit out the amount of time it takes to complete such a task. Along with the feature that breaks things down into steps, this one can be really helpful for those who struggle to manage their time well or to anticipate how long something will take to do.

Example: “Clean my bathroom” is what I typed in the text section. Click “estimate” button and out comes the response with approximate completion time, AI says this: “30 minutes to 1 hour.”

Compiler

This feature allows you to input a bunch of information, or things to do, and it creates a list of those things. Subsequently, it can take a long-worded response, or input (like using a voice-to-text feature on a mobile device) and develop it into a more readable list of things. This can be helpful if you just need to brain dump somewhere and figure out what to do later.

Example: “I need to pick up the dog, then the kids, get to the grocery store, stop by the pharmacy, start dinner, feed the dogs, feed the kids, shower, and take a look at my budget all before 6pm. today is so busy” is what I typed in the box and AI spit out this result:

Pick up the dog
Pick up the kids
Get to the grocery store
Stop by the pharmacy
Start dinner
Feed the dogs
Feed the kids
Shower
Take a look at my budget

This feature allows you to input ingredients you have on hand at home and then provides options for meals you can make with those ingredients. Super handy, I think, with just about everyone everywhere! Sometimes it can feel like a constant chore or cumbersome task to determine what to make and/or eat several times a day every single day of adult life, who’s with me?! Check out a few meal ideas generated by this AI.

options for meals you can make with those ingredients. Super handy, I think, with just about everyone everywhere! Sometimes it can feel like a constant chore or cumbersome task to determine what to make and/or eat several times a day every single day of adult life, who’s with me?! Check out a few meal ideas generated by this AI.

Example 1: “potatoes, ground turkey, salt, pepper, carrots” is what I typed in the box. Click “suggest” button and voila! Here is what AI offers:

Dish Name: Ground Turkey and Vegetable Skillet

Ingredients:

- 500 grams (1.1 lb) ground turkey

- 3 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and diced

- 2 medium-sized carrots, peeled and sliced

- Salt, to taste

- Pepper, to taste

Instructions:

1. Heat a large skillet over medium heat.

2. Add the ground turkey and cook, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until browned and cooked through.

3. Remove the cooked turkey from the skillet and set aside.

4. In the same skillet, add the diced potatoes and sliced carrots. Cook them until they start to soften, about 5-7 minutes.

5. Return the cooked ground turkey to the skillet with the potatoes and carrots.

6. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and mix well.

7. Cover the skillet and let it cook for about 10-12 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.

8. Remove from heat and serve immediately.

Enjoy your Ground Turkey and Vegetable Skillet!

Example 2: “rice, chicken, salt, pepper, butter, carrots, green beans, soy sauce, lettuce, onions” is what I typed in the box. AI offers this recipe:

Dish Name: Soy Ginger Chicken Stir-Fry

Ingredients:

- 250g chicken breast (8.8 oz)

- Salt, to taste

- Pepper, to taste

- 1 tablespoon butter

- 2 carrots, sliced (80g, 2.8 oz)

- 100g green beans, trimmed (3.5 oz)

- 2 tablespoons soy sauce

- 1 onion, thinly sliced (100g, 3.5 oz)

Instructions:

1. Cut the chicken breast into thin strips.

2. Season the chicken with salt and pepper.

3. In a large skillet or wok, melt the butter over medium heat.

4. Add the chicken strips and cook until browned and cooked through, approximately 5-6 minutes. Remove the chicken from the skillet and set aside.

5. In the same skillet, add the sliced carrots and green beans. Cook for 3-4 minutes, or until slightly tender.

6. Add the thinly sliced onion to the skillet and cook for an additional 2 minutes.

7. Return the cooked chicken to the skillet and drizzle soy sauce over the ingredients.

8. Stir-fry for another 2-3 minutes, ensuring all ingredients are well coated in soy sauce and heated through.

9. Serve the Soy Ginger Chicken Stir-Fry over a bed of hot rice or alongside lettuce leaves for wrapping, if desired.

Enjoy this delicious and flavorful dish!

I hope this article has helped you see a few benefits of using AI for assistance when your mental health symptoms prevent functioning the way you would like to function. I also hope it has reminded you to be cautious and mindful when engaging in use of any tools for managing mental health, and especially AI tools. These tools are not a replacement for learning healthy habits to employ for ourselves, learning healthy and effective ways to communicate what we want to others, or learning about emotions, communication, body language and expression to read a tone. However, do you need a little help breaking down a big or overwhelming task? Goblin.tools might be the tool that really helps you become more empowered to do things on your own!

What now?

Well, you can try different things using the AI site yourself. In what ways can you see yourself accessing this AI tool? Which features/functions would you find the most.

Application:

Review the key features of Goblin. Tool discussed in this post.
Notice which one could benefit your own quality of life this week.
We invite you to try exploring it over the next few days.
Set a reminder on your phone to come back at the end of the week and tell us about your experience