AI Therapists?

[Eve B]

Character.ai: Young people turning to AI therapist bot

https://earkick.com/

Anyone tried the above AI therapist-bots popular with the younger social media generation?

[PsychoLogical]

On 1/29/2024 at 9:36 PM, Eve B said:

Character.ai: Young people turning to AI therapist bot

https://earkick.com/

Anyone tried the above AI therapist-bots popular with the younger social media generation?

I tried the earkick and asked it a few questions. The replies were pretty generic and things I have heard or read before. The interaction wasn't very personal. I think using something like that may appeal to and be more beneficial for people who can't afford real life therapists, who have trouble interacting with people in person and/or who need on-the-spot access to it. Although, there are potentially many issues with something like this such as people's private messages and information being leaked or stolen and sold. Also, I'd want to know if there were any studies on using AI and if there could be potential issues in developing a relationship with an AI bot where it could become unhealthy or unhelpful. I'd also want to know who was programming it and what kind of information or techniques were being used. Maybe it would turn out that it had an advantage over actual therapists, or maybe it would be more harmful, or maybe it would be neutral and perform no better or worse.

[Eve B]

Privacy risks are unavoidable with tech. The main advantage I see with AI therapy is that clients know it's an artificial relationship so if the responses are unsatisfactory, it won't be taken as personally or feel as traumatic. I think the AI programming will improve, and the younger generation will prefer it because it will be cheaper, it can be conveniently 24/7, and there's no face-to-face talking required. I'd rather have a good human therapist, but the harm would be greater if they failed me.