A new artificial intelligence (AI) powered app, Ode, has launched this week, offering users a unique way to support their mental wellbeing through personalised poetry. Backed by prominent figures such as Stephen Fry, the free audio experience uses AI to recommend poems tailored to an individual's current mood, from Emily Dickinson for sadness to Walt Whitman for joy.
The app is the brainchild of William Sieghart, editor of 'The Poetry Pharmacy' anthology series, and Amelia Richards. It expands on Sieghart's concept of organising poetry not by author or theme, but by emotional states like grief, heartbreak, and anxiety. Users interact with the app by responding to audible prompts delivered by an AI narrator, designed to encourage reflection rather than simple one-word answers. All conversations within the app are strictly confidential.
While Ode leverages advanced voice and transcription AI models, the poems themselves are real works read by human actors. Alongside Stephen Fry, the voices of Harriet Walter, Stellan Skarsgård, Jeremy Irons, and Indira Varma contribute to the app's rich audio experience. This blend of AI-driven personalisation and authentic human performance aims to create a meaningful and accessible tool for emotional support.
The launch of Ode comes at a time when the NHS is experiencing significant pressure on its mental health services. Around one in four people in the UK encounter a mental health problem each year, with the NHS reporting a surge in demand and extended waiting lists for talking therapies. Patients are considerably more likely to face waits of over 18 months for mental health treatment compared to physical health treatment, highlighting the urgent need for additional support mechanisms.
Ode has received approval for use within the NHS by the Organisation for the Review of Care and Health Apps (ORCHA), meaning healthcare staff can now recommend it to patients. Developed in collaboration with Microsoft AI and creative studio Gravity Road, the app is part of a broader movement exploring how AI can be positively harnessed for mental health, offering a complementary resource to traditional care pathways.
The app's founders believe in the therapeutic power of poetry, with studies indicating that engaging with verse can help mitigate feelings of loneliness, isolation, anxiety, and depression. William Sieghart expressed his excitement about the project's potential to scale his long-held belief in poetry's healing power globally, making the 'simple magic of a poem' accessible to a vast number of people.