LONDON: University of East Anglia research developed a stop-smoking mobile app that helps senses where and when you might be triggered to light up could help you quit. 

The University of East Anglia's research led to the creation of the world's first Artificial Intelligence (AI) quit-smoking app, Quit Sense, which recognises when people enter a space where they used to smoke. It then offers help in managing people's particular smoking triggers in that area. The study team expects that the new software will assist more smokers in quitting by assisting users in managing trigger situations.

We are aware that attempts to stop smoking frequently fail because being around places where people used to smoke can cause cravings. This could happen, for instance, while you're out or at work. According to main researcher Prof Felix Naughton from UEA's School of Health Sciences, "Aside from utilising medicine, there are no known ways of giving support to help smokers manage these types of situations and cravings as they occur.

"Quit Sense is an AI smartphone app that learns about the times, locations, and triggers of previous smoking events to decide when and what messages to display to the users to help them manage urges to smoke in real time," continued Dr. Chloe Siegele-Brown from the University of Cambridge, who developed the app.

209 smokers who were recruited via social media participated in a randomised controlled experiment that was conducted by the researchers. All participants received a connection to NHS online stop smoking help, but only half also received a text message including links allowing them to access their assigned treatment.

After six months, the participants were asked to complete online follow-up tasks, and those who claimed to have given up smoking were required to mail back a saliva sample in order to confirm their cessation.

The results, which were reported in Nicotine and Tobacco Research, demonstrated that, compared to those who simply received online NHS help, those who were offered the app quit smoking four times more frequently after six months.

Less than 50% of those who said they had given up smoking and provided a saliva sample to prove it were a limitation of this relatively small-scale study. The researchers concluded that more study is required to provide a more accurate assessment of the app's efficacy.

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