--- description: Find out why Crisis Contact Simulator is one of the best inventions of 2021 title: Crisis Contact Simulator: The 100 Best Inventions of 2021 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a42f7e73485eabd/698a1e9d929fad3078bf7e13/best-inventions-2021-Crisis-Contact-Simulator.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 10, 2021 # A Chatbot for Crisis Responders Crisis Contact Simulator by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Nearly half of U.S. LGBTQ youth ages 13 to 24 thought they needed mental-health counseling in 2020 but didn’t receive it, according to a report from the Trevor Project, a nonprofit LGBTQ suicide-prevention organization. To help meet demand and train more counselors, the group partnered with Google.org to create Riley, a genderqueer Black teenager from North Carolina who also happens to be an [AI chatbot](https://www.thetrevorproject.org/blog/the-trevor-project-launches-new-ai-tool-to-support-crisis-counselor-training/ "undefined"). Riley is a skilled conversationalist and can remember the details it shares throughout a conversation, which helps trainees learn how to show they are listening and absorbing what a person in crisis is sharing. Since its launch in January 2021, Riley has helped train hundreds of counselors, says Dan Fichter, head of AI and engineering at the Trevor Project; Fichter envisions a future where AI personas help people “learn to be even better at what they’re doing.” _—Guadalupe Gonzalez_ Crisis Contact Simulator: The 100 Best Inventions of 2021 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2021/6113112/crisis-contact-simulator/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2021/6113112/crisis-contact-simulator/"},"headline":"A Chatbot for Crisis Responders","datePublished":"2021-11-10T11:13:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:56:04.569Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2021/6113112/crisis-contact-simulator/","keywords":["list","franchise","best inventions","Best Inventions 2021"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a42f7e73485eabd/698a1e9d929fad3078bf7e13/best-inventions-2021-Crisis-Contact-Simulator.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a42f7e73485eabd/698a1e9d929fad3078bf7e13/best-inventions-2021-Crisis-Contact-Simulator.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2021/6113112/crisis-contact-simulator/","name":"A Chatbot for Crisis Responders"}}]}] ```