Smokers four times more likely to give up when using AI app, says UEA research
The app uses artificial intelligence to sense where you could be triggered
Research from UEA has found that people were four times more likely to give up smoking using an app which features AI.
QuitSense, which uses artificial intelligence to sense where you could be triggered, was developed during a study at the University of East Anglia.
Their work shows that this method is more successful than just relying on online support provided by the NHS.
"New way of increasing a smoker’s chances of quitting successfully"
Lead researcher Prof Felix Naughton, from UEA’s School of Health Sciences, said:
“We know that quit attempts often fail because urges to smoke are triggered by spending time in places where people used to smoke. This might be while at the pub or at work, for example.
“Other than using medication, there are no existing ways of providing support to help smokers manage these types of situations and urges as they happen.
“Helping people attempting to quit smoking to learn about and manage these situations is a new way of increasing a smoker’s chances of quitting successfully.”
How was this study completed?
The research team carried out a randomised controlled trial involving 209 smokers who were recruited via social media.
They were sent links by text message to access their allocated treatment – all participants received a link to NHS online stop smoking support but only half received the Quit Sense app in addition.
Six months later, the participants were asked to complete follow-up measures online and those reporting to have quit smoking were asked to post back a saliva sample to verify their abstinence.
"Three-quarters installed it"
Prof Naughton added: “We found that when smokers were offered the Quit Sense app, three-quarters installed it and those who started a quit attempt with the app used it for around one month on average.
“We also found that four times more people who were offered the app quit smoking six months later compared to those only offered online NHS support.”
What's next?
One limitation of this relatively small scale study was that less than half of the people who reported quitting smoking returned a saliva sample to verify that they had actually quit. While more research is needed to provide a better estimate of the effectiveness of the app.
This study was led by the University of East Anglia in collaboration with researchers from the University of Cambridge, the Norwich Clinical Trials Unit, the University of Nottingham, King’s College London, University College London, and Imperial College London.