 Welcome to Learning English, a daily 30-minute program from the Voice of America. I'm Dan Novak. And I'm Dan Friedel. This program is designed for English learners. So we speak a little slower and we use words and phrases, especially written for people learning English. Coming up on the program, April 1st is the 20th anniversary of the start of Gmail. Some people thought the launch of the email program was a joke because of its release on April Fool's Day. Brian Lin has the story. Anna Matteo has the Health and Lifestyle Report on AI Chatbots designed to help people with mental health issues. Later, Andrew Smith and Jill Robbins present the lesson of the day. But first... When Google launched Gmail in 2004, it quickly grew into one of the Internet's most popular email services. At the time, though, many people thought the Gmail launch was a joke. This is because it was announced on April 1st, April Fool's Day, and Google's co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin had already established themselves as April Fool's Day pranksters. One year, Google published a false job opening promising job seekers a position at a research center on the moon. Another year on April Fool's Day, the company said it was considering adding a tool that would permit users to smell search results. Page and Brin later said Gmail's launch was the perfect April Fool's Day prank. This is because they felt the new offerings or features might have seemed too good to be true for users. Gmail launched as a free service. The new features included an increase in storage space up to one gigabyte per account. While that amount may not seem like a lot today, at the time it was considered very large. In 2004, for example, one gigabyte was enough to store about 13,500 emails. This compared to just 30 to 60 emails that could be saved with the then-leading email services run by Yahoo and Microsoft. In addition, the new Gmail included Google's search technology. This permitted users to quickly find specific emails, photos, or other data stored in the service. Gmail also introduced a feature that grouped multiple email communications about the same subjects. Former Google executive Marissa Meyer spoke to the Associated Press about her involvement developing Gmail at the company. The original pitch we put together was all about the three S's, Meyer told the AP. She explained that the S's stood for storage, search, and speed. Meyer helped design several products at Google before leaving the company and later becoming Yahoo's chief executive. When Gmail's launch happened in 2004, some readers began contacting the AP to suggest the news agency must have been fooled by Google's announcement. But that reaction by users was part of the charm of making a product that people will not believe is real, said Paul Buchheit. He recently spoke to the AP about his efforts to help build Gmail. Buchheit explained that the Gmail project was developed quietly at Google, which even gave the effort a secret name. He noted that at the time, he was just Google's 23rd employee hired. The company now employs more than 180,000 people. Although the Gmail launch captured a lot of publicity, it started out being offered only to a limited number of people. This is because at the time Google only had enough computing power to support a small number of users. When we launched, we only had 300 machines and they were really old machines that no one else wanted. That's what Buchheit told the AP. We only had enough capacity for 10,000 users, which is a little absurd, he added. But the account limitations actually led to more interest in the service and persuaded large numbers of people to request new Gmail accounts. At one point Buchheit said invitations to open a new account were selling for $250 each on eBay. Over time Google was able to increase the number of new Gmail accounts it established as it expanded its data centers. This move sped up the process of getting a new Gmail account. But the company did not begin approving all new Gmail requests until it officially opened up the service to the world in 2007. A few weeks later on April Fool's Day in 2007, Google announced a new service called Gmail Paper. The service was described as a way for users to print their email out on paper and send it through the regular mail. But this time Google was actually joking. I'm Brian Lin. From VOA Learning English, this is the Health and Lifestyle Report. The Mental Health Chatbot Ear Kick greets users with a friendly looking panda that could fit easily in a children's program. When users talk about anxiety, the panda gives the kind of comforting statements that a trained mental health professional, called a therapist, would say. Then it might suggest breathing exercises or give advice on how to deal with stress. Ear Kick is one of hundreds of free chatbots aimed at dealing with a mental health crisis among young people. But the co-founder of Ear Kick, Karen Andrea Stefan, says he and the other creators do not feel comfortable calling their chatbots a therapy tool. Whether these chatbots or apps provide a simple self-help tool or mental health treatment is important to the growing digital health industry. Since the apps do not claim to diagnose or treat medical conditions, they do not need approval from the Food and Drug Administration or FDA. The industry's position is now coming under more careful examination with recent developments of chatbots powered by artificial intelligence, AI. The technology uses a large amount of data to copy human language. The upsides are clear. The chatbots are free. They are available 24 hours a day and people can use them in private. Now for the downsides. There is limited data that the chatbots improve mental health and they have not received FDA approval to treat conditions like depression. Vale Wright is a psychologist and technology director with the American Psychological Association. She said users of these chatbots have no way to know whether they're actually effective. Wright added that the chatbots are not the same as traditional mental health treatment. But she said they could help some people with less severe mental and emotional problems. EarKick's website states that the app does not provide any form of medical care, medical opinion, diagnosis or treatment. Some health lawyers say such claims are not enough. Glenn Cohen of Harvard Law School said, if you're really worried about people using your app for mental health services, you want a disclaimer that's more direct. He suggested this is just for fun. Still, chatbots are already playing a role due to an ongoing shortage of mental health professionals. Britain's National Health Service has begun offering a chatbot called WISA to help with stress, anxiety and depression among young people. This includes those people waiting to see a therapist. Some health insurers, universities and hospitals in the United States are offering similar programs. Dr. Angela Skrinsky is a family doctor in the American state of New Jersey. When she tells her patients how long it will take to see a therapist, she says they are usually very open to trying a chatbot. Her employer, Virtua Health, offers Wobot to some adult patients. Founded in 2017 by a Stanford-trained psychologist, Wobot does not use AI programs. The chatbot uses thousands of structured language models written by its staff and researchers. Wobot founder, Allison Darcy, says this rules-based model is safer for healthcare use. The company is testing generative AI models, but Darcy says there have been problems with the technology. She said we couldn't stop the large language models from telling someone how they should be thinking instead of facilitating the person's process. Wobot's finding was included in a research paper on AI chatbots published last year in Digital Medicine. The writers concluded that chatbots could help with depression in a short time, but there was no way to study their long-term effect on mental health. Ross Coppel, of the University of Pennsylvania, studies health information technology. He worries these chatbots could be used in place of treatment and medications. Coppel and others would like to see the FDA review and possibly regulate these chatbots. Dr. Doug Opel works at Seattle Children's Hospital. He said, there's a whole host of questions we need to understand about this technology so we can ultimately do what we're all here to do, improve kids' mental and physical health. And that's the Health and Lifestyle Report. I'm Anna Mateo. Anna Mateo is with me now to talk more about this week's Health and Lifestyle Report. Thanks for joining me, Anna. Hi, Dan. Thanks for having me. So today's story is about chatbots essentially playing the role of mental health therapists. This presents some opportunities as well as some challenges. What are the problems with these mental health chatbots powered by AI? Some mental health experts have experimented with AI-powered chatbots and they have found that these chatbots tell people what to do rather than teaching people how to get better. Another problem experts are finding is that AI-powered chatbots often do not say the right things in emergency situations. What do you mean by emergency situation? Well, let's say a person is having thoughts of self-harm. Some mental health experts and even emergency responders are trained in how to deal with this. The chatbots do not seem prepared or able to correctly help these people. Okay, so we've heard some problems that may be caused by mental health chatbots, but how can they help people dealing with mental health problems? Well, some research has shown that they may be able to help people with less severe mental health issues by providing comforting statements, advice, or techniques for handling things like stress. And unlike an actual person, these bots are available 24 hours a day. As we like to say, 24-7, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But with the shortage of mental health professionals, these bots could be a good alternative, meaning another choice for some people. But as the experts in the story say, it is too early to determine whether these bots are actually effective or give good advice. It sounds like for now, people should not be looking for bots as a replacement for actual therapists and certainly not anyone with serious mental health problems. Thanks for coming on the show, Anna. You're welcome, Dan. Thanks for having me. English has launched a new program for children. It is called Let's Learn English with Anna. The new course aims to teach children American English through asking and answering questions and experiencing fun situations. For more information, visit our website, learningenglish.voanews.com. My name is Jill Robbins. And I'm Andrew Smith. You're listening to the Learning English podcast. Welcome to the part of the show where we help you do more with our series Let's Learn English. The series shows Anna Matteo in her work and life in Washington, D.C. Today's lesson has three parts. First, you will hear and repeat a few informal expressions Anna uses that are very common in American English. Next, you will hear Andrew and me having a native speaker conversation. Third, you'll get to practice hearing and listening to phrases that begin with the word what. We have a lot to do in today's lesson, so let's get started. Here's Anna in lesson 19 when she learns that she is going to make a new TV show. I have a new assignment for you. Your skills are perfect for a new show. A children's show. A children's show. That is awesome. When do I start? You start next month. Start thinking of ideas for the show. I have tons of ideas. I can show children what it's like in outer space or gray. Tons of is an informal way of saying a lot of. A ton in the units of weight used in the United States is 2,000 pounds, which is about 907 kilograms. So that's why a ton of or tons of means a lot or very many. Anna has a lot of imagination, so she has tons of ideas. I have tons of ideas. And there are tons of things we can talk about based on the Let's Learn English series from VOA Learning English. Here's some more examples with the expression tons of. So, Andrew, I'm going to Charlotte, North Carolina next weekend for a work meeting. But I haven't had time to plan my trip. And I don't really know what to do. Oh, don't worry about that. There's tons to do. There are more than one really good art museums downtown. There are major sports teams. There's an NBA basketball team and NFL football team, soccer teams. There's a very good symphony orchestra and a lot of good restaurants. You will have plenty to do. Yeah, I'm sure I will. Hey, I meant to ask you, could you help me move my office furniture if you're not too busy? Yeah, no problem. I've got tons of time. Speaking of the office, do you have any paper clips? Oh, I've got tons of them. Take all you want. Andrew, pretty soon our listeners will have tons of examples. That's true. I think they probably get the idea. But they should remember that tons of is a little bit informal. And it is used more in speaking than in formal writing. That's true. So how about teaching another informal expression? Well, how about, how about? Yeah, we can do that. Here's Anna and Jeannie in lesson 14. Anna needs some clothes to wear and a Jeannie appears and tries to help. Tonight, I am going to the theater with my friends. But I don't know what clothes to wear. Maybe this magazine can help. Her clothes are beautiful. I really want a friend like her to help me. I am Jeannie. You want help? I am here to help you find the right clothes. Awesome! How about jeans and a t-shirt? No! Jeans and a t-shirt are too casual. How about something more formal? Sure! When Anna says how about, she means, what if we try this? Awesome! How about jeans and a t-shirt? And when we speak quickly, we sometimes drop the ah sound from about and just say about. So it sounds like this. How about this? Or how about that? How about we listen to Anna one more time? Can you put on a jacket? Why not? I love the jacket! How about a hat? I think we can find tons of examples of people saying how about. I'm sure we can. But how about we do something else? There's something Anna says at the end of Lesson 19 that we could talk about for our native speaker conversation. Let's listen. I have tons of ideas. I can show children what it's like in outer space or in the deep, dark ocean. Those are great ideas, Anna. Please, go think of more at your desk. Yes. What other things can I show them? Mount Everest. Everyone has different skills. You have skills. I have skills. The important thing is to know what you are good at. Until next time. I think Anna has some useful advice. It is important to know what you are good at. Yeah. For example, last week I realized that I'm good at catering. You know, like setting up food and tables for a party. It's probably something I learned from watching my mother. Let's move on to our third topic for today. Phrases that start with the word what? Grammatically, these are called noun clauses. But you don't have to worry about the name. Just listen to the word order. You hear the word what? Then you hear a subject followed by a verb. Here's Anna again in lesson 19. Excited that she's going to have a new TV show. The noun clause is at the end. A children's show. That is awesome. When do I start? You start next month. Start thinking of ideas for the show. I have tons of ideas. I can show children what it's like in outer space. When she says what it's like, you hear the word what plus the subject it plus the verb is using the contraction form it's. So normally when we ask a question with words such as what or where, the verb comes before the subject like when we say what is your name. But if we put the what or where inside a sentence or statement, the subject and verb change places like this. I want to know what your name is. The words what your name is are the object of the verb no. So their job in the sentence is to function like a noun instead of a question. So that's why the word order is not like a question with what. It can be tricky to reverse the subject and verb order correctly. But don't worry. We're going to give you tons of examples. I can show children what it's like in outer space. And how about these examples? I can show you what I want. I can show you what I need. I can tell you what I think. I can tell you what I see. You can show me what you want. You can show me what you need. You can tell me what you think. You can tell me what you see. I can tell you what to do. I can tell you where to go. You can? Yes, I can. Go ahead. Tell me some more. I can tell you what time it is. I can tell you what the weather is. I can tell you what my cat likes to eat. I can tell you where my cat likes to sleep. I can tell you what it's like to watch the moon and stars at night. I can tell you what I went. I can tell you what I need. But I can't tell you what to do because that's really up to you. You know, I think that's true. You can't tell me what to do. But you can give me some good advice. Well, here's some advice for our listeners. Practice repeating the sentences you hear on this lesson of the day. And use the Let's Learn English series to find many more examples of things you can learn to say. That is some good advice. We hope you've enjoyed today's lesson of the day on the Learning English podcast. I'm Andrew Smith. And I'm Jill Robbins.