Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Improve Social Communication in Autistic Individuals

Intervention has been proven effective to improve interpersonal and communication skills for people with low social awareness or certain neurological conditions such as autism spectrum disorder. However, the application of this type of trainings is limited due to the lack of trained clinicians, the difficulties in finding/creating social settings, and the cost of ongoing treatments, among other factors. In this study, the investigators hope to elucidate whether autistic individuals will benefit from the translation of face-to-face interventions delivered by AI application (app) that can be easily accessed on the phone or computer.

For the last decades, the world has experienced a geometric increase in the number of individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, with the CDC reporting that 1 in 31 individuals now being diagnosed with the condition. With such large numbers, individuals in need of intervention services face long clinical wait times along with a shortage of trained providers. From this study, the investigators aim to learn whether AI programs that do not require the labor-intensive face-to-face clinician hours are effective in improving the social communication of autistic individuals.

The investigators anticipate that in just 4 weeks of short daily (weekdays) practice sessions with the app, the treatment groups will show improvements in areas that are generally challenging for this population and adolescents and adults will report more confidence during social conversation compared to the waitlist control groups. The investigators are requesting that participants complete a minimal number of intervention trials, with the option of completing more if desired. Should participants vary in their improvement based on intervention time, this information should assist with understanding an optimal level of intervention for effectiveness. The investigators will carefully document percentage correct for each module, time spent on the module, and improvement.

The investigators will match adult participants who are within 5 years of age. Adolescents and young children will not be matched but will be divided equally into two groups. The investigators anticipate no change in the wait list control groups.

The purpose of this study is to examine the efficacy of Artificial Intelligence (AI) intervention using an application for autistic individuals; therefore, human subjects need to be used for this project.