Fitness, Autism, and the Future of AI: How MoveMuse Fits the Mold By: Michelle Zeman
Above is an image of several people sitting in a circle, each wearing a different-colored shirt. Most of the people in the image are smiling and have their hands extended towards the middle of the circle.
In September 2024, GemmoAI and the University
of Limmerick launched the MoveMuse chatbot—a tool designed to help adults with
Autism become more physically active. Through the application, it utilizes a
method called “WOOP” - Wish (what you want to do), Outcome (how you’ll feel),
Obstacle (what might stop you), and Plan (how to overcome the problem).
When I read this article, I found it
interesting because I’ve seen applications that use different methods for
weight loss. However, I hadn’t quite seen an application like this - one that
provides this level of encouragement or planning. Many applications I see offer
general exercises and diets that may help with weight loss, but they don’t
necessarily have something that works for me.
If you know me, you know that I hate
exercise. When I was in college, I lost roughly 70 pounds; however, I was too
caught up in the number on the scale. I had anxious thoughts about what I was
eating, how much I ate, and how often I exercised. I even exercised so
rigorously at one point that I ended up getting a knee injury (tendonitis) - and I didn’t want to rest. Because of
these obsessive thoughts about exercise and weight loss, I look at applications
like this and wonder, “How could this application be beneficial to someone like
me?”
With this being a beta version, I have a few
questions for the creators:
- How can
someone who has obsessive thoughts surrounding exercise be open to trying
an application like this?
- Can the
MoveMuse chatbot adapt to users who have a complicated relationship with
exercise, where the goal isn’t JUST about “doing more” but instead what
makes a user feel safe and healthy?
- Can the
MoveMuse chatbot distinguish between motivation driven by anxiety and
genuine self-care?
I am hopeful that tools like the MoveMuse
chatbot will shift how we think about physical activity - not
as punishment and only tied to a number on a scale, but as a way to build
habits that feel achievable, flexible, and personalized. This is crucial for
not only someone like me, but also adults with Autism who have held stigma
towards weight.
I hope that developers who want to create more
applications like this look at designing and developing them with a
compassionate, mental-health focus. It could help redefine
our relationship with movement.
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