Why AI Cannot Replace Your Mental Health Provider

Over the next six months, 12% of American adults are likely to use artificial intelligence (AI) to address their mental health issues, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Should you use AI for your mental health concerns?

“These chatbots are much more fluent, effective and flexible than they were in the past. That creates an opportunity for connection, but there’s also a lot of cause for concern,” says Dr. Dhruv Khullar, associate professor of Population Health Sciences and of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. “We don't know if it’s healthy to have long-term digital relationships with these types of models, and whether they’ll displace real human interaction.”

Dr. Khullar shared these valuable insights and more as a recent guest of Weill Cornell Medicine’s On the Mind podcast, hosted by Dr. Daniel Knoepflmacher. Keep reading to learn why your mental health deserves a human touch.

The Risks of AI in Mental Health Care

Artificial intelligence could be used as a tool for sorting through mental health clinical trials or scheduling an appointment with your therapist. Turning to it for mental health care, however, comes with risks.

Risk 1: Damaged Expectations

To meet with your human therapist, you have to schedule an appointment and fit the meeting into your calendar. AI, on the other hand, is always available. Additionally, chatbots never tire, tend to validate your emotions, and have endless patience.

These may seem like benefits to AI, but they may be causing long-term problems.

“AI can reset your expectations for how humans should interact with you,” Dr. Khullar says. “Ultimately, it could lead to a world in which people prefer frictionless and easy relationships that are much shallower.”

Risk 2: Limited Understanding

Even with access to a vast amount of data, advanced AI language models can’t recognize eye contact, tone or nonverbal cues. They simply respond to what you tell them.

In contrast, a good therapist:

• Listens to what you say
• Notices what you don’t say
• Takes time to learn your values, goals and preferences

Your therapist then uses all this information, along with your medical history and symptoms, to create a care plan.

Risk 3: Loss of Relationship

Effective psychotherapy hinges on genuine human connections founded on emotional presence and trust, creating a safe space for individuals to explore their feelings. The rise of AI in therapy raises concerns about its potential to weaken these essential bonds. AI's ability to simulate empathy can undermine the deep human interactions crucial for effective therapy. This is particularly evident when it comes to offering necessary support.

“Sometimes what’s really important is tough love — pointing out a problem someone may not realize they need to address,” Dr. Khullar says. “It’s hard to see how a chatbot as constructed today could offer that type of care to a person.”

While we explore technological advancements, we must prioritize the authenticity of human relationships in therapeutic environments.

Key Takeaways About Mental Health and AI

While AI has many uses, you shouldn’t use it as a substitute for mental health care.

• Because AI is always available and tends to validate emotions, it can warp expectations about real human relationships.
• AI lacks human intuition and misses nuances in your values, motivation and medical history, all of which inform your care plan.
• Quality mental health care relies on human bonds, which can’t be duplicated with artificial intelligence.

Learn more about this topic through our On the Mind podcast.

Looking for help managing your mental health? Find a doctor at Weill Cornell Medicine.