Will an AI know what I'm going through?
By Siri Bandagiriye · Not the way a person who loves you does. An AI hasn't lived your life. What it can do is pay close attention to your words, reflect them back accurately, and give you room to feel heard without being rushed.
Not the way a person who loves you does. An AI has never lost a parent or failed an exam. What it can do is pay close attention to your words and reflect them back accurately, without rushing you.
In my years as a chaplain, I learned that people rarely need to be fully understood. They need to feel heard.
Saati is built to understand before advising: it names what you said in plain words first, and only then offers something small. It will also be honest that it is software. It won't pretend otherwise.
What the research says
In a 2023 study of 195 real patient questions, health professionals rated 45.1% of chatbot replies as empathetic or very empathetic, compared with 4.6% of physicians' written replies.1
The American Psychological Association warns that most AI models learn mainly from English-language, Western-centric internet content, which limits how culturally relevant their support can be.2
Written by Siri Bandagiriye
I've been a Buddhist monk and mindfulness teacher for 30 years, and for six years a chaplain with Correctional Service Canada, sitting with people in crisis. I built Saati in Halifax as a companion for the ordinary hard days. If you'd like to see what it's like, it's free to try.