It’s the usual ridiculous premise of “AI is better, if you remove all the aspects that are actually involved in doing the thing”.
A real therapist looks at emotions, at your dynamic when you talk about your conflicts. They throw in suggestions to gauge your reaction. And they can get to know you and push you towards a positive outcome over many sessions. In particular, they also serve as a form of mediation. Having a person that holds you accountable for disrespectful behavior and for ridiculous expectations can do a lot for bringing a couple back on track. A chatbot just does not do these things.
But on top of that, even the methodology seems to be flawed. A person liking a response is not an indication of it being good. Sometimes, a therapist needs to tell you that you’re being an ass.
Like, yeah, the research itself has some amount of merit. A chatbot therapist might be better than having no therapist at all (so long as it doesn’t encourage self-harm). But the headline and the premise of the article is so far removed from any truth that it doesn’t belong in a science community.
It’s the usual ridiculous premise of “AI is better, if you remove all the aspects that are actually involved in doing the thing”.
A real therapist looks at emotions, at your dynamic when you talk about your conflicts. They throw in suggestions to gauge your reaction. And they can get to know you and push you towards a positive outcome over many sessions. In particular, they also serve as a form of mediation. Having a person that holds you accountable for disrespectful behavior and for ridiculous expectations can do a lot for bringing a couple back on track. A chatbot just does not do these things.
But on top of that, even the methodology seems to be flawed. A person liking a response is not an indication of it being good. Sometimes, a therapist needs to tell you that you’re being an ass.
Like, yeah, the research itself has some amount of merit. A chatbot therapist might be better than having no therapist at all (so long as it doesn’t encourage self-harm). But the headline and the premise of the article is so far removed from any truth that it doesn’t belong in a science community.