We are the Games for Emotional and Mental Health (GEMH) lab, spread across two locations—in the Netherlands and in Canada!

We are currently developing an app called XCAVO. The purpose of the app is to help young adults find out what they want in life at that moment, what they think is important to them, and to see if their social media behaviour is matches up with those things. In our app, the user is, as it were, his or her own explorer, and our aim is to help you figure out your own identity, by collecting digital activities and your goals and values in life. We want to help you make the most out of your digital ecosystem of apps—make technology work for you, not against you.

As part of this effort, we are planning on developing an interactive artificial intelligence module that is integrated into every part of the app, and can help guide your exploration in XCAVO!

However, artificial intelligence is becoming more and more present in our lives, even if we sometimes don't know it. Is this a good thing? Or maybe we should steer clear of AI and its risks? And how would you like AI to help you in your goals? Is there something artificial intelligence could help you with?

We are looking for young people between the ages of 17 and 25 who are interested in thinking about what the dangers and benefits may be of artificial intelligence in the context of wellbeing tools. If you are, perhaps you would like to join one of our focus groups! The point of these focus groups is to share—with us, and a small number of your peers—how you believe AI could be best designed to serve you, in a way that is transparent and works for you.

The focus groups will take place in English, and will be held online, in Zoom. An audio recording will be made of the meeting so that we can write down what was said afterwards. No worries; all resulting data is anonymous, and the audio recordings are deleted once transcription has taken place.

Your experiences and opinions are valuable to us, which is why we would like to give something back. As a thank you, participants will receive €15 worth in Bol.com gift vouchers. You will receive these digitally within 48 hours after participating!

Our only requirement for participation in the focus groups is that you speak English comfortably, and are currently living in the Netherlands since we compensate participants using Dutch online store vouchers. If you are interested and want to participate but you do not live in the Netherlands, you can technically sign up for a focus group and participate, but be aware that we will not be able to compensate you for your time.

Are you interested? Sign up for one of our focus groups; we look forward to seeing you there! After you have signed up, you will receive follow-up information (e.g., Zoom-link etc.) the day before your selected focus group. If you have any questions, please feel free to email the lead researcher, Nastasia Griffioen (nastasia.griffioen@ru.nl).