Self-initiated humour protocol: a pilot study with an AI agent.

Abstract

Introduction: Non-hostile humour and laughter have been known for therapeutic benefits in an individual's mental health and wellbeing. To this end, we evaluated the Self-Initiated Humour Protocol (SIHP), a new type of self-administrable laughter intervention that utilises spontaneous and self-induced laughter. Rooted in the core principles of the Self-Attachment Technique-in which an individual creates an affectional bond with their childhood self as represented by their childhood photo or personalised childhood avatar-SIHP provides an algorithmic framework for individuals to learn to laugh in a non-hostile manner and develop a sense of humour in all possible life contexts. This allows SIHP to be self-administered by interacting with an AI agent.

Methods: An 8-week intervention was conducted with N = 27 adult participants. Exclusion criteria: severe depression or anxiety (PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores above 15). Participants' measurements were collected in the areas of wellbeing, use of different humour styles, emotional self-regulation, self-compassion and psychological capital, and analysed to understand any changes over time. Measurements were taken immediately before, after the intervention, and at the 3-month follow-up. Throughout the intervention, participants were required to practise SIHP 20 min a day with the aid of an emotionally intelligent chatbot and their personalised child avatar in virtual reality (VR).

Results: Analysis of results at the 3-month follow-up showed significant improvements in the primary outcome of wellbeing with large effect size ( $r=0.92$ ), as well as a range of secondary outcomes with large effect sizes, self-compassion ( $r=0.93$ ), use of self-enhancing humour ( $d=0.80$ ), and emotion regulation ( $d=0.87$ ); the results also showed improvement to participant's psychological capital with moderate effect size ( $d=0.56$ ).

Discussion: This study shows the potential for the practice of SIHP as supported by an emotionally intelligent chatbot and personalised child avatar to have medium-term positive effects, which should be validated through future randomised trials.