One in five teenagers spends all their free time on social media. Länsförsäkringar Göteborg och Bohuslän wanted to understand what this constant digital exposure does to young people's mental health and found a partner in Stendahls, part of iO since 2021.
Together with the insurer, we developed the AI persona Laika(1) using GPT-4. Laika simulates how a child might develop when social media becomes the dominant influence in their life. By combining technology, behavioural science and creativity, the campaign brought the often unseen consequences of excessive social media use to life in a powerful and thought-provoking way.
The result? An award-winning tool now used in more than 100 school classes and prompted 75% of 130,000 students to reconsider their social media habits.
Custom AI tool built on OpenAI's GPT-4
Validated by leading child psychologist Lisa Thorell
300 school classes signed up for educational sessions
75% of 130,000 students felt need to change behaviour
150% CTR, 35.5M media reach
GDPR-compliant via Azure OpenAI hosted in Europe
Winner of Strategy Awards Sweden 2024
The challenge
How do you make the invisible effects of excessive social media use on young people's mental health tangible and open to discussion?
The solution
Laika, an AI persona that combines behavioural research with language model technology, allowing children to experience first-hand what excessive social media use does to you.
Länsförsäkringar Göteborg och Bohuslän x iO: raising awareness around mental health
Länsförsäkringar Göteborg och Bohuslän is part of a Swedish group of 23 independent insurance companies with nearly 3.8 million customers and more than 6,400 employees. As an organisation, they have been actively committed to young people's mental health for years, addressing broader social issues.
As their digital partner, we have been thinking strategically for years about how technology can create societal impact. This case shows one part of that journey: how AI can help make complex topics like screen time, social media use and mental health accessible for a very young audience.
Why screen time is an urgent issue for insurers
Smartphones and social media are relatively new. We therefore know little about how they affect children's mental health in the long term. Länsförsäkringar Göteborg och Bohuslän saw this as an opportunity to start a conversation with their audience and help young people before problems arise.
This proactive approach fits their earlier campaigns around mental health, such as #ImPerfect and The Check Out Suite campaigns. The difference? This time, they wanted to do more than warn; they wanted people to experience it.
How does the AI mental health tool work?
Laika is an AI persona that simulates what happens to a child's self-image and worldview when they spend 100% of their time on screens. The tool is built on OpenAI's GPT-4 and was fed with transcripts of TikTok content.
But GPT-4 alone was not enough. To make Laika truly valuable for educational purposes, we needed specific data on the behavioural effects of excessive social media use. Our teams therefore created an extensive dataset based on existing scientific research into behaviour and mental health.
Validating AI output: why scientific expertise matters
To ensure Laika's reliability, we worked with Lisa Thorell, one of Sweden's most renowned child psychologists. She evaluated and validated Laika's output and helped us refine the nuances in the responses.
Most of our work consisted of adjusting the dataset and refining how Laika responds to certain prompts. This iterative process ensured that the AI tool not only works technically, but is also pedagogically responsible.
How do you ensure GDPR compliance in AI projects?
Privacy and compliance were priorities from day one. We use an Azure OpenAI service hosted entirely in Europe. This guarantees that all data falls under strict European data protection laws. This approach gives both Länsförsäkringar Göteborg och Bohuslän and the schools using Laika the assurance that the tool can be deployed safely and responsibly.
Who's the target audience for the AI mental health tool?
The AI tool featuring the Laika persona was designed for two specific audiences:
Journalists were given access to the AI experiment. They could book a session with Laika and interview her to explore what the tool might reveal about the wider impact of social media on society. Laika gained national media coverage in Sweden and was also picked up by international news outlets. The campaign reached 35.5 million people and drove a 150% increase in click-through rates.Schools and teachers used the experiment as an educational resource. Laika helped facilitate classroom discussions about mental wellbeing and the impact of screen time on young people. 300 school classes signed up for an information session on the risks associated with social media use, reaching a total of 130,000 students.
The future of an AI tool for social purposes?
What does the future hold for AI-powered social impact initiatives like this? As GPT-4's multimodal capabilities continue to evolve, an AI persona such as Laika will be able to understand and interpret an ever wider range of content, from text and transcripts to photos, videos and real social media posts. This could enable even more realistic simulations, helping young people better understand the impact of their own screen habits and online behaviour.
The numbers
1%
CTR increase
1M
media reach
1
school classes
1
students reached
1%
wanted to reduce screen time after meeting Laika
From experiment to educational movement: social impact
The impact of this AI-driven mental health campaign was felt almost immediately.
The campaign captured attention from the start, driving a 150% increase in click-through rates and generating a media reach of 35.5 million people across Sweden.
But awareness was only the beginning. Laika made its way into the classroom, reaching 300 schools and more than 130,000 students. There, it helped turn an abstract issue into a tangible experience, giving young people a new way to understand the impact of excessive social media use on their wellbeing.
And the message landed. After interacting with Laika, 75% of students said they wanted to reduce their screen time, showing the power of AI not just to inform, but to change behaviour.
For Länsförsäkringar Göteborg och Bohuslän, the project reinforced its position as an insurer that looks beyond policies and claims. By investing in prevention, awareness and youth wellbeing, the organisation is helping build a healthier future for the next generation. Recognition at the Strategy Awards Sweden 2024 confirmed that this approach was not only innovative, but strategically effective.
