Supporting early intervention in youth addiction through AI-powered digital innovation

Young people experiencing addiction-related behaviours often face barriers to accessing support before problems escalate. At the same time, universities, healthcare providers and local authorities need better tools to identify risks, understand behavioural trends and coordinate interventions.

Through an Innovate UK Accelerated Knowledge Transfer (AKT) project, NovTek Consulting Ltd partnered with Nottingham Trent University to explore how artificial intelligence, behavioural science and digital technologies could support earlier intervention and recovery outcomes.

Objectives

The Smart Recovery project aimed to develop an AI-driven platform to support early risk detection, personalised education and coordinated recovery support for young people at risk of addiction.

Combining Nottingham Trent University’s expertise in artificial intelligence and behavioural health with NovTek’s software development capabilities, the partnership sought to create an intelligent risk assessment system, mobile application and secure data platform capable of generating real-time insights.

Project Overview

Designing a Data-Driven Recovery Platform

The Smart Recovery platform was designed to provide personalised assessments and educational content while helping organisations identify potential risks earlier.

Stakeholder engagement with universities, NHS partners and third-sector organisations informed the platform’s design, ensuring alignment with user needs and evidence-based approaches.

Combining Artificial Intelligence with Behavioural Insight

A core feature of the platform is its AI-enabled risk assessment capability. Dynamic surveys use conditional logic to collect behavioural information and generate personalised risk profiles.

Academic expertise from Nottingham Trent University ensured that addiction science, behavioural modelling and governance principles were embedded throughout development.

Building a Scalable Digital Solution

NovTek developed a full-stack platform including a mobile application, secure backend infrastructure and real-time administration dashboard.

The system supports user engagement through interactive surveys and provides stakeholders with access to risk scores, trend analysis and alerts to support informed decision-making.

The project successfully delivered a feasibility study and functional AI-powered addiction support platform within three months.

Outputs included a mobile application, dynamic survey engine, secure backend infrastructure and dashboard capable of generating behavioural insights and risk assessments. Comprehensive technical documentation was also produced to support future development.

Pilot testing validated the functionality of the AI risk-scoring model and demonstrated the feasibility of combining artificial intelligence, behavioural science and digital health technologies to support addiction intervention.

The project established a foundation for future innovation in behavioural health technology, demonstrating how digital tools can support earlier intervention and more personalised addiction support.

For NovTek Consulting, the collaboration accelerated entry into the digital health sector and created opportunities to engage with healthcare, education and public sector organisations. For Nottingham Trent University, it provided an opportunity to apply research expertise to a practical solution with potential societal benefit.

The partners are now exploring future funding opportunities, wider deployment and continued collaborative research. The platform also has potential applications across other behavioural health challenges, including mental health and youth wellbeing.