Meet Maya, the new online chatbot that women of colour can confide in when they face racism

You've heard of Siri, reached out to Alexa and greeted Google. Now, make way for Maya.

Priyanka Ashraf (centre) experienced racial abuse in 2020, and her experience inspired a new chatbot for victims to be able to confide in. Source: Supplied / Priyanka Ashraf

Key Points

• A new online chatbot has been launched to provide assistance to women experiencing racism in Australia.
• The idea was born by the founder of the Creative Cooperative who faced racism in the wake of COVID-19.
• 'Maya' can provide in-time support and resources for First Nations women and those from diverse backgrounds.

Priyanka Ashraf was grocery shopping in mid-2020 when she was confronted with abusive remarks she wasn't prepared for.

She recalled the "extremely confronting" moment another shopper disgustedly told her to go back to where she came from - and to take the COVID-19 virus with her, too.

"She said something along the lines of, 'there are all of these people everywhere, and I just wish they take their COVID virus back to the country that they came from,'" Ms Ashraf, 36, said.

Ms Ashraf went home battling the varying emotions of "confusion, despair, anger, shame" that overwhelmed her in the 60 seconds after she was racially abused.

Priyanka Ashraf was a victim of racism and wished there were portals available for her to receive support. Source: Supplied / Priyanka Ashraf

Reflecting on her own experience of racism, as well as what her other friends - who are women of colour - also experience, Ms Ashraf embarked on a mission to find support for people who face what she did.

Meet Maya: the robot who women can reach out to online when they need support after experiencing racism.

The new online chatbot, Maya Cares, was launched on Tuesday to assist First Nations women and those from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds who experience racism in Australia.

'Maya' can assist women who access the chatbot, which sends automated messages of support that could provide immediate in-time support to feel validated about their experiences.

Ms Ashraf is the founder of The Creative Co-Operative who spearheaded the chatbot project, and her team spent more than a year speaking with 200 women from varying backgrounds to make it as realistic as possible.

Wendy Qi Zhang is a service designer for the Creative Cooperative who helped create Maya Cares. Source: Supplied / Wendy Qi Zhang

Wendy Qi Zhang, the service designer and researcher behind the project, said she spoke with women who all had lived experiences of racism, what they did to confront it, and whether there were resources available to assist them.

In their research, the Creative Cooperative found that around 80 per cent of 150 women were unsure if they experienced racism or not, due to self-doubt, shame and fear of backlash.

"We just take people for a very friendly way of being able to share their story and be able to report an incident in a way that is quite different from what we've seen elsewhere where it can feel quite bureaucratic," she said.

A chatbot named 'Maya' works to help women who have experienced racism in Australia. Credit: Maya Cares

"In this one, they can have an experience of racism and go in and actually feel comfortable to share their story."

Women who express an interest in wanting to report an incident of racism will be referred by Maya to existing services that are available for First Nations women, and from CALD backgrounds.

The chatbot currently has more than 100 resources in its library that women can assess depending on what is chatted about, with more expected to be embedded.

"You can feel this immense emotional heaviness that you carry alone, but really you don't need you. There's a massive community out there for you."

While the chatbot can only be accessed in English, Ms Zhang said the team has plans to expand it to other languages for migrant women, whose first language isn't English, to access as well.