New York 8th grader tests AI for stress; basic model beats ChatGPT-4o
Eighth-grader Zeynep Demirbas conducted a science project comparing the accuracy of various AI models in detecting stress in human text. Her findings showed that specialized models like MentalBERT outperformed general-purpose models like ChatGPT-4o.
Why it matters
This research underscores the limitations of general LLMs in specialized fields like mental health and highlights the potential for domain-specific AI models.
Fourteen-year-old Zeynep Demirbas has found that ChatGPT-4o is less accurate than a mental health-focused AI model and a simpler machine-learning system at detecting stress in human written text.Zeynep, an eighth-grade student at Transit Middle School in East Amherst, New York, tested four different models using more than 3,500 Reddit posts. According to Society for Science, the posts had already been labelled by humans as showing stress or no stress.Her project, titled “Evaluating the reliability of Large Language Models for stress detection”, has earned her a place among the finalists in the 2025 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge. The competition recognises young students working on science-based projects.Zeynep became interested in the project after speaking with a family friend who is a psychologist. The psychologist told her that some health insurance companies were exploring large language models (LLMs) as cheaper, 24/7 alternatives to human therapists.
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