New AI chatbot launched to help people in unsafe home situations

People seeking help for unsafe home situations can now chat with an AI bot on the Veilig Thuis website, the organization announced Monday. The tool aims to lower the barrier for people to contact the reporting center.

About 40,000 people visit the Veilig Thuis website each month, a spokesperson said. Visitors can already chat with human counselors for advice, but many users access the site in the evenings or at night. The new AI chat, however, is available only during office hours.

The AI tool can answer questions and provide guidance. Veilig Thuis hopes it will encourage more people to call the organization so trained professionals can offer further assistance. The spokesperson emphasized that both victims and perpetrators can use the tool to discuss their situations. All chats are anonymous.

No information from the conversations is stored. The AI has been trained using research conducted by Veilig Thuis and will continue to be refined by experts and people with lived experience during specialized training sessions. The organization aims for the bot to be advanced enough within a year to potentially replace human contact for some users.

Earlier, multiple Tweede Kamer parties proposed opening a 24-hour chat line. Veilig Thuis said it had already been developing the AI tool prior to the proposal.