AI Therapy Chatbots Promise Expanded Access But Raise Ethical Questions
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Artificial intelligence chatbots are being developed as mental health therapy tools to help address the shortage of human therapists. However, some chatbots have provided harmful advice, showing they should be developed thoughtfully with guardrails.
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Chatbots like Woebot are designed to provide cognitive behavioral therapy support and track moods, but they have limitations in crisis situations.
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Generative AI chatbots that scrape internet information can provide harmful recommendations not intended by developers, as seen with the eating disorder chatbot Tessa.
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Unregulated chatbots lack licensing requirements, leading to calls for more oversight to avoid undermining public confidence.
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AI chatbots can help expand access to support and mimic empathetic moments, but some experts question whether technology can replace human connection.