Your WhatsApp voice notes could help screen for early signs of depression

The study, led by researchers in Brazil including Victor H. O. Otani from the Santa Casa de São Paulo School of Medical Sciences, found that their AI could identify depression in female participants with 91.9% accuracy. All the AI needed was a simple recording of the person describing how their week went.

Talk to AI every day? New research says it might signal depression

This finding comes from a national survey of nearly 21,000 U.S. adults conducted in 2025, where participants detailed how often they interacted with generative AI tools and completed standard mental health questionnaires. Within that group, about 10% said they used AI daily, and 5% said they engaged with chatbots multiple times throughout the day. Those daily users showed higher rates of reported depressive symptoms and other negative emotional effects, such as anxiety and irritability.

You might actually be able to buy a Tesla robot in 2027

The comments follow a series of years-long development milestones. Optimus, which was originally unveiled as the Tesla Bot in 2021, has undergone multiple prototype iterations and has already been pressed into service handling simple tasks in Tesla factories. According to Musk, those internal deployments will expand in complexity later this year, helping prepare the robotics platform for broader use.