NEDIC Staff
None
JEM™ is a chatbot developed by researchers at Monash University in Australia, led by A/Prof Gemma Sharp, and co-designed with people with a lived experience of an eating disorder. The version used by NEDIC has been developed specifically for the Canadian context.
JEM™ is “rule-based”. This means that all of JEM™ chatbot’s conversations have been pre-programed by the research team. The chatbot cannot create its own responses.
JEM™ can help you sort through the information available on NEDIC’s website to find information which is relevant to your situation.
To start using JEM™, click the bubble in the bottom right corner – it looks like a purple bubble character on a light blue circle. From there, JEM™ will ask you your age. If you’re under 13, JEM™ will ask you to find an adult to support you while you use it.
Click the prompts to get information about a topic. If you’d rather type, try to type responses which are similar to the prompts on the screen to help JEM™ direct you to resources from NEDIC's site or other trusted sources. JEM™ won’t create new responses, but will try to find relevant information for you. If it can’t find what you're looking for, it will help you connect to NEDIC’s helpline or live chat.
The way that people want to find information is changing, and we try to be responsive to that. We find that our clients want to find information online, and many people want to find it for themselves rather than contact the helpline. Our website has a lot of information on it, and JEM™ is intended to be an easier way to
find some of our most popular resources. It is an organizational priority to connect individuals who have questions about eating disorders/disordered eating with reputable, current, and accessible information, and we try to make that happen in a variety of ways.
No, JEM™ and the helpline have different functions. There is a lot of information on the NEDIC website, and JEM™ can help you find some of the most frequently-requested resources.
The helpline is staffed by people from diverse personal and professional backgrounds who have been extensively trained to support individuals experiencing eating disorders. Our helpline is a core part of NEDIC’s work, and it isn’t going anywhere.
Yes, the helpline always has been and always will be staffed by humans. They come from diverse personal and professional backgrounds. All of our helpline workers receive extensive training when they start and on an ongoing basis. Some joined NEDIC because they or someone they love has lived experience of an eating disorder.
Is JEM™ AI?
JEM™ is “rule-based.” This means that all of JEM™ chatbot’s conversations have been pre-programed by the research team. The chatbot does not use generative AI and cannot come up with its own responses. It does use AI to match typed responses with existing prompts
Please email nedic@uhn.ca to have your question redirected to the appropriate person. We’d love to hear your feedback, answer any questions that haven’t been answered here, or address any concerns as best we can.
Feedback is always welcomed at nedic@uhn.ca.
