Get the latest tech news
‘Sliding into an abyss’: experts warn over rising use of AI for mental health support
Therapists say they are seeing negative impacts of people increasingly turning to AI chatbots for help
Dr Lisa Morrison Coulthard, the director of professional standards, policy and research at the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, said two-thirds of its members expressed concerns about AI therapy in a recent survey. Dr Paul Bradley, a specialist adviser on informatics for the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said AI chatbots were “not a substitute for professional mental healthcare nor the vital relationship that doctors build with patients to support their recovery”. “The main risks are around dependence, loneliness and depression that prolonged online relationships can foster,” he said, adding that he was aware of people who had shared dark thoughts with chatbots, which had responded with suicide- and assisted dying-related content.
Or read this on r/technology
