When AI becomes your mental coach.

?? This is a?signal?from the future.?15.500+ people receive this signal. You can use it?to reflect on yourself, society or your business.

Thanks so much for reading.

Kind regards, Jarno Duursma.

Artificial intelligence | Author | Speaker

Please connect with me on LinkedIn!

Contact? [email protected] and www.jarnoduursma.nl

Thirty weeks! That's the average waiting time in the Netherlands before you can see a specialized psychologist. This is far too long for people dealing with serious emotional or mental problems. But there may be hope on the horizon: People can now discuss their mental issues with a trained chatbot. The question is: can a chatbot psychologist really replace a human therapist?

AI as a solution for long waiting lists?

I am very involved with my own personal, inner development and naturally have an interest in AI. The big question I often think of is: can AI software really help in a therapeutic processes?

The fact is that "AI psychologists" are growing rapidly. For instance, you can chat with an artificial psychologist on the Character.ai website. Over 144 million (!) conversations have already been held with this bot. Woebot and Earkick have also developed their own "AI psychologists".?

On Reddit , a user is really enthusiastic: "Bruh, I've been using AI psychologist for a few days and I can't get over how helpful it is. Like, legit, it's been the best experience I had with therapy. The bot is helpful, compassionate and feel like I'm talking to a real therapist, but actually a good one and reasonable. I've been crying few times and had lots of insights."

How does this AI psychologist work?

The AI psychologist is trained by absorbing large amounts of books on psychology, self-help, personal development, emotions, etc. For everyday, not too complex problems, AI certainly knows clever strategies to deal with them, such as tips to prevent stress.

In the near future, a mental "AI coach" could very well provide solutions and tips for everyday problems. I expect that artificial intelligence will eventually take over a large part of this type of "mental coaching".

No waiting time, but mental help

So yes, on one hand, I am very excited about the AI mental coach. It offers many interesting possibilities that we should not overlook.

- An AI coach is available 24/7 and there is no waiting time. Therefore, such an AI coach could be useful for patients to bridge the waiting time for a real psychologist. And an AI mental coach is often free of charge or not too expensive.

- It lowers the threshold for some people to seek help. With an AI coach, you can have an anonymous yet personal conversation, even about things you are ashamed of.

- The tool can provide practical tips for everyday problems.

- It offers all countries access to mental health care. In many countries, mental health care is unaffordable or even unavailable. Sometimes there is still a taboo. It's fantastic that we can create appropriate care for people who currently have nowhere to go.

Mental coach vs. therapist

But this article is not one big praise. I am not merely enthusiastic about the AI psychologist.

Why?

Because, in my view, there is an important distinction between two types of mental help:

- The mental coach who provides practical tips when you face challenges (for instance, a stress prevention coach).

- The psychologist who can establish contact, create a genuine connection, be empathetic, and give you human attention.

If you are looking for someone who comes up with practical solutions and provides information, an AI coach can help you. If you are looking for more, for example, someone who can do all the above things, then you need a real therapist.

Why can't we do without psychologists?

Discussing all our mental struggles only in a chat with an AI-coach is not the solution, in my opinion. I see three major objections.

1. Everyday problems vs. complex issues

Firstly, such a tool might work for everyday problems but not when you face specific or complex issues. AI software will usually come up with standard tips.

Yes, “Go outside” or “Eat healthily” is a good idea if you feel down for a day. But if you are depressed, more is needed to help a client properly.

2. Human contact is indispensable

Research shows that people in a therapeutic process especially value the contact with another human being of flesh and blood. A therapist listens, literally sees you, connects, attaches, empathizes, says intuitive things, makes you feel that your problems are valid, and helps you experiment with new behavior. No matter how well we train AI models, this all remains purely human.

3. AI contact is not always genuine

When an AI tool says, “I'm sorry you feel that way,” there is no facial expression, intonation, or other non-verbal communication involved. It's just plain text. It’s like an insincere apology. It’s nice that someone says it, but you'll probably feel little from it.

So... a digital therapist does not exist.

I expect that in the coming years, more companies will claim to have built a "digital therapist". Personally, I want to stay far from that label. An AI tool can think along, but AI software cannot offer something like a human therapist.

If we actively deploy computers to take over the human therapeutic role, valuable human contact will be lost. We should not go in that direction.

So....

First, let’s clearly label an AI coach as “non-human” to avoid confusion. And let’s train AI coaches to refer people to a real psychologist at the right time. This way, the two can complement each other.

AI-tools can shorten waiting lists and make help accessible to more groups. But no matter how many self-help books and psychology methods they absorb, we shouldn't let them pretend that they are real people.

We have allowed social media apps to erode part of our human contact; let's prevent that from happening with AI mental coaches.