Kochi NGO Maithri receives distress calls via AI referrals

Maithri, a Kochi-based non-governmental organization (NGO) working on suicide prevention, recently received a distress call from a 26-year-old woman who was reportedly on the verge of ending her life.

When he was on the verge of death, he reportedly turned to an AI-powered app as a last resort to find someone to listen to his pain. It was initially redirected to a portal with a pre-recorded message service. When he insisted on interacting with the human interface, the chatbot on the portal gave him the phone number of Maithri, who has been active in this field for the last three decades. After a conversation with a Maithri volunteer, she eventually sought the help of a psychologist.