Artificial Intelligence is poised to disrupt 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 already in use or coming online soon:
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AI-generated therapists that provide on-demand counseling
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App-based virtual companions ("sober buddies") to help individuals at risk of relapse
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Suicide prevention AIs that keep at-risk individuals on the phone long enough for the real prevention specialists to arrive​
​Regardless of the technology running in the background, these applications are still 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 mostly a conversation.
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Recovery Movie Meetups helps treatment providers enhance these conversations by adding visual depictions of addiction and recovery characters and themes—specifically those in the movies used in our Program.
To us, seeing is a great path towards healing.
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But what if Hollywood movies weren't the only source of visual depictions that were available?
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Building on 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”—tailor made to address any individual's specific addiction or dual-diagnosis mental health challenges while in treatment.
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​​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 an example of a mini-movie to help motivate a client to stay committed to their recovery journey by highlighting the benefits of following through on a recovery plan after leaving treatment:
But wait, there's more...
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.
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The same deep learning face-swapping and Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) technologies used to make “deepfake” videos will make it possible for a client to actually star in their own mini-movie.
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We call this Audiovisual Immersion Therapy (AIT). Here's how it will work:
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Individual therapists or facility clinicians would 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...
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##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...##
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The system would then render AIT mini-movies that the client could watch either 1:1 with their therapist, or in mutual support meetings alongside other clients—each with their own mini-movie.
At first these mini-movies would be based on simple pre-established scene templates like those featured in the videos above.
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However, with machine learning, AI could eventually create entirely new locations, storylines, dialogue, and set designs independently utilizing the client’s complete medical and biographical history as training data.
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Clinicians could then quality-check the "pre-render", and if they determined the mini-movie lacked sufficient therapeutic value or could harm the client in any way, they could make adjustments and render an entirely new version with minimal effort.
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Here are some hypothetical AIT mini-movies using face-swapping and GANs-optimized generative AI.
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In critical self-reevaluation exercises, a client could watch:
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Themselves being handed a pink slip by an employer with a zero-tolerance drug and alcohol policy
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Themselves living on skid row, begging for handouts to buy beer, or offering sexual favors in order to score some heroin
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Themselves 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)
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The very same loved ones mourn their overdose death at their own funeral
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Themselves 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…
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Their spouse and young children run into their arms and hug them tightly after they return from rehab
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Themselves graduate Summa Cum Laude from a university, with their family members celebrating the accomplishment (see video sample #2 above)
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Their old boss rehire them for the same job they lost 6 months earlier​
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The potential benefits of AIT are numerous, and only time and actual implementation will reveal which are the most useful in a treatment setting. But if our existing clients' experience with the Recovery Movie Meetups Program is any barometer, we may see:​
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Enhanced Self-Awareness: When a client sees their lived experiences play out on screen it help them better understand the patterns, triggers, and consequences of their addiction
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Emotional Catharsis: Reliving pivotal moments in their lives might facilitate the release of pent-up emotions, leading to emotional healing (could be especially applicable in trauma counseling)
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Empathy: Viewing their life from a third-person perspective could encourage self-compassion, reduce feelings of guilt or shame, and help individuals forgive themselves
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Strengthened Connections: Sharing the mini-movie with loved ones or a support group could foster understanding, empathy, stronger relationships and faster healing
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Validation: Seeing their story portrayed validates their struggles and achievements, reinforcing that their journey is significant, worthy of attention, and ultimately heroic.
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AIT mini-movies are a few years off, but they will eventually be a dynamic, low-cost and scalable therapeutic compliment to the Hollywood movies that our licensed facilities are currently using in their Recovery Movie Meetups mutual support meetings around the country.
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Questions, Comments or Concerns about AIT?
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