EmpathyBot: Guiding Parents in High-Conflict Divorces

Challenge: Amsterdam: How can a chatbot support parents navigating a high-conflict divorce?
Target Group: Families

The Empathy Bot pilot aimed to develop an AI-powered chatbot to support professionals working with families experiencing high-conflict divorces, with a focus on the emotional well-being of children. The objective was to create a tool that could generate empathetic, context-aware narratives and guidance, enhancing how caretakers assist parents during sensitive situations.

Co-creation was central to the process. Collaboration with caretakers from Levvel shaped the chatbot’s tone, ethical boundaries, and core functionality. Initial questionnaires gathered insights from a broader sample, while weekly feedback sessions with approximately 10 professionals guided iterative development. Key features—such as duo sessions for co-parents and personalized storytelling—emerged directly from this collaborative process.

The result is a functional prototype, tested in a controlled environment, which reached Technology Readiness Level 6. While not yet ready for direct use by families due to privacy considerations, the solution has shown strong potential as a professional support tool.

Next steps include enhancing privacy safeguards, refining the user interface, and expanding the interactive and emotional capabilities of the platform. A continued partnership with Levvel is planned, with the goal of long-term development and formal co-ownership of the tool.