Rimmel London and leading anti-cyberbullying charity The Cybersmile Foundation have announced a major update to the innovative Cybersmile Assistant for Anti-Bullying Week.

First launched in 2019 with the support of Rimmel London, the Cybersmile Assistant is an AI smart support tool that has helped over 200,000 people, providing users with practical advice, useful information and access to geo-targeted support services. It delivers 24/7 advice and instant access to professional support resources and crisis helplines for users in the UK, US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, and has proved invaluable in identifying trends and emerging problems in real time.

Now in its second year of development, the user interface and experience have been completely overhauled. This includes ongoing conversational training and development to ensure the assistant is providing best practice advice and guidance for important topics such as cyberbullying, mental health, body image and online safety. 

The Cybersmile Assistant has completely revolutionised the charity’s support services. In addition to eradicating wait-times for support and providing the charity with an opportunity to react to emerging trends in groundbreaking time, the Cybersmile Assistant has also drastically reduced the overall average support cost, from approximately £3 to just 8p per person. Cybersmile can now not only issue public safety warnings, but also train the Cybersmile Assistant to provide the appropriate advice and support within hours – a task which would have previously taken weeks.

Rimmel London first got involved when it became aware of the scale of beauty cyberbullying after conducting a global study in 2017 which found that 1 in 4 women have experienced beauty cyberbullying. Since then, the need for support has grown, with 2020 seeing a 20% increase in cyberbullying and online abuse support requests, a 20% increase in anxiety related support requests, and a 15% increase in catfish related support requests.

Sarah Alshohaib, senior director at Rimmel London, says: “It is incredible to see the impact the Cybersmile Assistant has had so far, helping over 200,000 people since it launched. We’re delighted to be working with Cybersmile throughout 2021, enabling them to expand the tool further to tackle key issues including racism, mental health and digital wellbeing.”