Pete, who lives with persistent pain, asthma and osteoarthritis himself, took part in a pain management programme in the 1990s and and became Senior Trainer in the NHS Expert Patient Programme.
For this project, he underwent an intensive interview progress and answered hundreds of questions to enable StoryFile to develop the AI version of himself. The AI Pete will be capable of holding conversations, answering questions and assisting people with persistent pain, and will sit alongside the Pain Toolkit, a resource developed by Pete which includes guidance and information on pain management.
It is hoped that the project, which will be accessible online, will help millions of people living with persistent pain to improve their quality of life and find new methods of self-management.
“Pain is such a wicked condition to live with, it wears you down and has an emotional toll on people,” said Pete. “Through this project, we’re hopefully making a big difference to people living with pain because it opens a dialogue and allows people to talk through their persistent pain with the AI version of me whenever they need to.”
Denis Martin, Professor of Rehabilitation and Director of the Centre for Rehabilitation at Teesside University, is leading the project. He noted that the AI agent will also provide a “unique educational resource for healthcare students”, adding: “Talking to AI Pete will allow them to understand more about the experiences of those living with persistent pain and develop key skills and understanding in how to work with the patient and the condition.”
The project is part of the EU Interreg North-West Europe VR4Rehab project, supported and part-funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaboration for the North East and North Cumbria.
