Dartmouth Team Develops AI Therapist Chatbot, Aims to Expand Mental Health Support
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Dartmouth researchers developed Therabot, an AI chatbot trained on therapy data to provide mental health support. It is currently undergoing clinical trials.
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Therabot was trained on hypothetical therapy transcripts to ensure productive responses after initial versions reinforced difficulties or relied on therapy clichés.
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Experts warn AI therapy apps could provide harmful advice, but also see potential to expand access to support with shortages of human therapists.
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Some people already use ChatGPT for therapy support despite no regulation, validation, or tracking. Experts warn it could give bad advice.
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The Dartmouth team hopes Therabot could help address the mental health crisis if trials continue going well, though appropriate safeguards remain vital.