Anyone who trusts an AI therapist needs their head examined
Pluralistic: Anyone who trusts an AI therapist needs their head examined (01 Apr 2025) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
selfhosted AI is 1000% more confidential than a human therapist; but stuff like ChatGPT? yeah stay away from those
It might be 1000% more confidential, but is it effective? Anecdotal evidence doesn't count. For all we know AI therapy could be actively harmful to certain conditions. I'm not sure there's any published studies on this.
There was actually one published a few days ago that concluded that it can be effective:
Participants with depression experienced a 51% reduction in symptoms, the best result in the study. Those with anxiety experienced a 31% reduction, and those at risk for eating disorders saw a 19% reduction in concerns about body image and weight.
However the person who did the study shares your concerns:
I asked Heinz if he thinks the results validate the burgeoning industry of AI therapy sites. “Quite the opposite,” he says, cautioning that most don’t appear to train their models on evidence-based practices like cognitive behavioral therapy, and they likely don’t employ a team of trained researchers to monitor interactions. “I have a lot of concerns about the industry and how fast we’re moving without really kind of evaluating this,” he adds.
Also they did another article about difficulties and pitfalls of making these things
even that is questionable professionally