Funding of $93 million announced by Slingshot, accompanied by the launch of Ash.

In a groundbreaking move to address the global mental health crisis, Slingshot AI has launched Ash, an innovative AI therapy app designed to offer evidence-based therapeutic support. The app, available for free on iOS and Android, leverages a specialized AI foundation model trained on extensive behavioral health data to provide a personalized therapy experience.

The Birth of Ash

Slingshot AI, a company founded in 2022 by AI engineer Daniel Cahn and Casper co-founder Neil Parikh, was established with the goal of making mental health care accessible to all. With a $93 million funding round, they set out to develop and expand this AI-driven mental health care solution [2].

To train Ash, Slingshot assembled the largest and most diverse behavioral health dataset ever, enabling the AI to understand various therapeutic methods such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), psychodynamic therapy, and motivational interviewing [1][3].

To ensure clinical safety and efficacy, Slingshot also established an Expert & Clinical Advisory Board, which includes prominent mental health experts like Dr. Thomas Insel and Dr. Devika Bhushan [1].

The Features of Ash

Ash offers a range of features designed to provide users with 24/7 support via voice or text, including:

A non-judgmental space for users to express their feelings honestly and receive professional guidance [5].
Weekly insights that highlight users’ thought patterns and behavioral themes, supporting long-term personal growth [5].
Cognitive diffusion and other clinically proven techniques to actively challenge unhelpful thought patterns rather than simply comforting users [2].
A privacy-first design to ensure confidential and secure user interactions [5].

Ash's AI model continually improves through reinforcement learning from conversation signals, optimizing personalized therapeutic support over time [1][3].

The Clinical Approach of Ash

Unlike general AI assistants that prioritize user appeasement, Ash is fine-tuned to know when to challenge users, when to be silent, and how to handle critical moments with appropriate therapeutic timing [1][3].

The AI employs a novel technique called Group Relative Policy Optimization (GRPO) to learn from implicit and explicit feedback in conversations, creating a robust feedback loop that mimics and surpasses some human therapist capabilities by understanding long-term behavioral impacts [3].

Ash integrates multiple therapy modalities, applying them contextually to individual user journeys, aiming to build a therapeutic alliance that promotes sustained behavioral change [1][3].

The Impact of Ash

In 2023, 59.2 million Americans sought therapy, but 54% of people struggling with their mental health don't receive any kind of care [6]. Ash represents a clinically grounded, AI-powered therapeutic tool designed to democratize therapy access, making high-quality, professional-level mental health support available anytime, overcoming barriers like therapist shortages, cost, and stigma [2][3].

Dr. Thomas Insel, Clinical Advisor and former head of the National Institutes of Mental Health, emphasizes the potential of innovations like Ash in broadening access to high-quality, evidence-based therapy.

One early user of Ash, Vanna, shares her positive experience with the app, stating that it provided significant help during a challenging career transition.

Dr. Derrick Hull, a digital mental health pioneer and Clinical R&D Lead at Slingshot AI, states that Ash is not designed to replicate traditional therapy in AI form, but to create something new and innovative.

Sources:

[1] Slingshot AI. (2023). Press Release: Introducing Ash, the AI Therapy App

[2] TechCrunch. (2023). Slingshot AI raises $93M to build an AI-powered mental health platform

[3] Medium. (2023). The Science Behind Ash: Slingshot AI's AI Therapy App

[5] Slingshot AI. (2023). Ash: The AI Therapy App

[6] Mental Health America. (2023). The State of Mental Health in America 2023

Funding of $93 million announced by Slingshot, accompanied by the launch of Ash.