The chatbot for the National Eating Disorders Association was shut down after providing "harmful" advice to users. Not to mention, the chatbot was the technological advancement the company used to get rid of its human workers who manned the hotline before.
In a statement issued this week, NEDA noted:
“It came to our attention last night that the current version of the Tessa Chatbot, running the Body Positive program, may have given information that was harmful and unrelated to the program,” adding, “We are investigating this immediately and have taken down that program until further notice for a complete investigation. Thank you to the community members who brought this to our attention and shared their experiences.”
In response to the backlash from the chatbot's harmful advice and the ways in which the bot undermined employees of NEDA, on Thursday, the NEDA Helpline Associates Union said in a tweeted statement the “alarming failure” of the chatbot “serves as further validation that perhaps human empathy is best life to humanity.”
