AI-Facilitated Episodic Future Thinking For Adults with Obesity

Abstract: Episodic Future Thinking (EFT) involves vividly imagining personal future events and experiences in detail. It has shown promise as an intervention to reduce delay discounting-the tendency to devalue delayed rewards in favor of immediate gratification- and to promote behavior change in a range of maladaptive health behaviors. We present EFTeacher, an AI chatbot powered by the GPT-4-Turbo LLM, designed to generate EFT cues for users with lifestyle-related conditions. To evaluate the feasibility and usability of EFTeacher, we conducted a mixed-methods study that included usability assessments, user evaluations based on content characteristics questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews. Qualitative findings indicate that participants perceived EFTeacher as communicative and supportive through an engaging dialogue. The chatbot facilitated imaginative thinking and reflection on future goals. Participants appreciated its adaptability and personalization features, though some noted challenges such as repetitive dialogue and verbose responses. Our findings underscore the potential of LLM-based chatbots in EFT interventions targeting maladaptive health behaviors.