Healthcare employs artificial intelligence in growing number of applications. The machine learning is form of AI that is “taught” to recognize, categorize, diagnose, engage with patients, or recommend treatment. It shows up in many branches of medicine. We’ve written about machine learning used to identify suicidal intentions, predict patient pain levels, and identify early signs of Parkinson’s disease.
Austin-based AI education tech company OneSeventeen Media introduced two interactive machine-learning based behavior management mobile applications. ThinkingApp is for pre-kindergarten to second-grade students and reThinkIt! targets for third through twelfth graders. Those of us who ever sat outside a principal’s office waiting to be called in for what we considered at the time minor infractions of stupid rules probably don’t remember the waiting time fondly. ThinkingApp and reThinkIt! share three primary purposes: help kids make wiser decisions, preserve teachers’ time, and save schools money. The company characterizes ThinkingApp’s interactive ebooks as “Time-Out Reimagined” and reThinkIt!’s problem-solving activities as “Advice Reimagined.”
Studies conducted by OneSeventeen media have shown that students share five times more information with reThinkIt! than face-to-face with adults. The company also says schools that use reThinkIt! report improved student attendance, improved teacher retention, and de-escalated classroom drama. While we tend to think of health treatments as being focused on devices and human interaction, new software applications like these demonstrate that programs can also be effective tools at shaping health outcomes.
