Immigrants face innumerable barriers between them and prosperous life in their new home, with many of the familiar ways of working they knew and understood from their homeland alien to them in their adopted home.  Couple this with cultural differences that can take time to learn and understand, and it can be many years before immigrants are able to reflect their true selves.

New research from Anglia Ruskin University suggests that mobile apps can play a crucial role in shortening that assimilation period and help immigrants to integrate into new cultures.

“AI apps work by providing services like customised search results, peer-reviewed e-learning, professional coaching on pronunciation, real-time translations, and virtual communication for finding possible explanations for health conditions,” the researchers say. “Our study found these to be of significant benefit for migrants in relation to integration, health and mental health.”

Smooth integration

The researchers surveyed migrants and refugees who were undertaking beginners’ language classes in Greece over a 10-month period.  The data shows that the use of AI-powered mobile apps, including language assistants, symptoms trackers, and customized information sites, helped to improve social integration by 2.7% and health by 5.3%.

The use of AI appears to be key, as non-AI applications had a more limited impact, with services used to signpost public services, for instance, improving health by less than 1%.

“The World Health Organization recommends the use of health apps in improving services, particularly for vulnerable populations. Mobile applications and AI, if used correctly, can clearly benefit the lives of people arriving in an unfamiliar new country – however around a third of people we surveyed did not possess a smartphone, potentially providing a barrier to these benefits,” the researchers say.

“Our study is the first that we know of that examines the use of mobile applications to support migrants’ needs in relation to societal integration and quantify associations between mobile applications, health, mental health and integration for migrants, and assess the role of AI in enhancing these outcomes.”