PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Alison Darcy

Also known as Ali Darcy

Alison Darcy is a clinical research psychologist whose work connects AI with mental health care. She earned psychology degrees at University College Dublin, created an online support group for people with eating disorders, and later led Andrew Ng’s Health Innovation Lab at Stanford. In 2017, she founded Woebot Health, whose chatbot helps users monitor and manage their mental health; a randomized trial found a significant reduction in depression symptoms in the Woebot group. By 2023 she had authored more than 40 publications, was named to TIME100 AI, and received UCD’s Alumni Award in Social Sciences. Woebot retired its direct-to-consumer app in June 2025; as of October 2026, she is a Moonshot Explorer at X.

Works
59
Citations
5,168
h-index
25

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 14 October 2026.

Photo of Alison Darcy

Timeline

  1. By 2007

    Degrees and an online support group

    She earns psychology degrees at UCD in 1999, 2005, and 2007. Her early work includes an online support group for people with eating disorders.

  2. By 2017

    AI and healthcare at Stanford

    She completed postdoctoral training at Stanford School of Medicine and with the American Psychiatric Association. At Stanford, she also worked with Andrew Ng on AI and healthcare and led his Health Innovation Lab in Computer Science.

  3. 2017

    Building a mental health chatbot

    She founded Woebot Health in 2017. Its AI-powered chatbot enables users to monitor and manage their mental health using evidence-based cognitive behavioural techniques.

  4. 2017

    Testing a chatbot in a trial

    Woebot’s automated conversational agent was evaluated in a randomized controlled trial for depression and anxiety.

  5. 2017

    Measuring the symptoms

    The Woebot group showed a significant reduction in depression symptoms over the study period.

  6. 2023

    Research and recognition

    By 2023, she had authored more than 40 publications. In 2023 she was named to TIME100 AI and received UCD’s Alumni Award in Social Sciences.

  7. June 2025

    Retiring the consumer app

    Woebot Health retired its direct-to-consumer chatbot app.

  8. As of October 2026

    A new moonshot role

    She is a Moonshot Explorer at X, where she focuses on finding and converting emerging breakthroughs into thriving businesses.

Sources and credits

Photo: Web Summit, via Wikimedia Commons. License: CC BY 2.0. Source: commons.wikimedia.org. Cropped to a square and resized. Ask us to remove or replace this photo.

  1. Alumni Awards - UCD Connections alumni.ucd.ie. Checked 14 October 2026.
  2. Dr Alison Darcy - UCD Alumni Awards alumni.ucd.ie. Checked 14 October 2026.
  3. Alison Darcy womenintechsummit.pl. Checked 14 October 2026.
  4. Woebot Health woebothealth.com. Checked 14 October 2026.
  5. Delivering Cognitive Behavior Therapy to Young Adults With Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety Using a Fully Automated Conversational Agent (Woebot): A Randomized Controlled Trial pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Checked 14 October 2026.
  6. Woebot Review (2026): The Pioneering CBT Chatbot and Why It Disappeared psychology.com. Checked 14 October 2026.