Self-care with Generative AI: understanding opportunities and risks for wellbeing and connectedness

The aim of this project is to better understand how generative AI tools can support young adults to better care for their health and wellbeing as well as the potential limitations and risks of using generative AI.

Self-care is a process of purposeful engagement in practices that promote holistic health and well-being of the self. Holistic health implies overall health and this encompasses more than just physical health but also includes mental, emotional and even spiritual health of a person. For some people, cooking can be a form of self-care to eat healthily and to get a break from work. In this project, we are particularly interested in the intersection of digital technologies and self-care, or what we call ‘digital self-care: purposeful engagement with digital technologies that promotes holistic health and well-being of the self. Our focus is on AI technologies that can generate new content, such as text, images, and music. Our research shows that generative AI can support self-care through curated health advice, self-care resources like meditations, or images and music that support therapeutic self-expression.

This is a collaborative project in partnership with IT students, with support from the QUT Wellbeing Strategy team, Dr Michelle Newcomb from the School of Public Health & Social Work, and A/Prof Tuck Wah Leong at UTS.

Participate in Research

Are you interested in self-care and generative AI technologies?

We would like to invite individuals who are practising self-care to take part in a study that involves a workshop, a diary study (over 1-2 weeks), and an interview. Please view the attached Participant_Information_Sheet for further details on the study.

If you are interested in participating or have any questions, please contact Bernd Ploderer via email.

This study has been approved by the QUT Human Research Ethics Committee (approval number 7297).