Artificial Intelligence, or A.I., is perhaps the next evolutionary step for some of our electronic devices. But what if the A.I. technology extended itself to providing mental therapy? An A.I. psychologist if you please. Ellie is the name of this latest A.I. psychologist.

A study on this type of A.I. technology was revealed this week. Ellie might be the latest technological fad when it comes to mental-health therapy, but her existence as a therapist so far has its limitations.

There is research to suggest that some people share more with a machine than with a human. Ellie is considered a "virtual human," and its existence as a machine could help patients overcome psychological issues that some might not want to share with another human being. These psychological issues could be stigmatized topics such as, suicide, depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), New Statesman reported. Hopefully Ellie can fix that.

According to the research, some people are more willing to share and have a connection with a machine than they would a real person. Some of these people are also more willing to reveal more sensitive information with a computerized system compared to a person. In some instances, patients feel less judged by a machine than they would with a person, the New Statesman reported.

Enter the "virtual human" who can do more by perhaps getting the patient to open up. Researchers from the Institute of Creative Technologies used a "virtual human interviewer program." This program helped people to destress from psychological situations. Ellie is the virtual human psychologist, the New Statesman reported.

Similar to a human therapist, Ellie, along with the use of 3D cameras that scan the patient's face and body, can imitate the patient's demeanor, use conversational responses such as, "could you tell me more about that?" And "she" can even detect a patient's verbal and nonverbal behavior, such as a tone in the voice, to analyzing a smile, the New Statesman reported. (You can find a video below this article from the Institute of Creative Technologies of Ellie in action.)

The data and research on Ellie is sound. Jonathan Gratch, a professor of computer science and psychology, led the research team that divided 239 participants into two groups, and then asked them to interact in a conversation with Ellie. The first group was informed that a virtual human was a fully automated A.I. that had an audio and visual speech recognition system, the New Statesman reported.

Meanwhile, the second group was falsely advised that Ellie was controlled by a human in another room. The person in the other room who was controlling Ellie would be observing the interview and also coordinating it by using a series of perceived questions and answers.

As a result of the study, some participants who thought they were talking to an automated Ellie felt less judged than those who thought that Ellie was controlled by someone else, the New Statesman reported.

Further into the study, a score was created and measured based on the participants' time with Ellie. They had their faces scanned for signs of sadness. The gist of the study determined that when people dealt with humans they were less than willing to share more information, The Economist reported. The first group's facial expressions showed less signs of sadness when compared to the second group's sadness level, which was slightly higher.

Ellie, at least for the moment, can perhaps complete the screenings of patients especially when it comes to them sharing basic information when no one is there judging them. Ellie could be exceptional for patients needing psychiatric help.

You can click here to see Ellie at work.