Inspiration
In today’s digital world, manipulation often hides in plain sight—gaslighting, shaming, and other toxic patterns can deeply impact mental health. We wanted to create a tool that empowers users to recognize and respond to these behaviors by making the invisible visible.
What it does
WhiteMirror is an AI-powered chat application that detects manipulative communication in real time. It highlights harmful messages, explains the tactics and targeted vulnerabilities, and offers users an interactive dashboard and chatbot to explore and understand their communication dynamics.
How we built it
The frontend is built with React and Vite, styled with Tailwind CSS, and uses WebSockets for real-time updates. The backend uses FastAPI and PostgreSQL, with machine learning models built in Scikit-learn to classify manipulation techniques and psychological vulnerabilities. We containerized the services with Docker and managed migrations using Alembic.
Challenges we ran into
- Creating accurate, explainable ML models with limited labeled data
- Designing a UI that surfaces sensitive insights without being overwhelming or judgmental
- Ensuring real-time detection without latency
- Balancing technical complexity with user accessibility
Accomplishments that we're proud of
- Successfully detecting and classifying multiple manipulation types in real time
- Building a seamless AI chatbot (StatsBot) to interpret and query communication data
- Creating an intuitive dashboard that visualizes manipulation patterns over time
- Enabling meaningful reflection on digital conversations through a clean, interactive experience
What we learned
- How to combine psychological theory with machine learning for real-world impact
- The importance of designing with empathy when working on emotionally sensitive topics
- Deeper understanding of real-time systems and WebSocket integration
- How critical explainability is in AI-driven communication tools
What's next for WhiteMirror
- Integration with Messenger and Slack for live gaslighting detection
- Scam prevention support in platforms like Karrot (당근마켓)
- Educational modules to help users build resilience against manipulation
- Therapist APIs for mental health professionals to use communication insights in treatment
- Mobile app for on-the-go support and awareness
Built With
- fastapi
- love
- postgresql
- python
- react.js
- sklearn
- vite
- websocket
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