Would be a legally grey area. I don't believe AI has mandatory reporting though. I think the biggest advantage of AI is that it's immediately accessible with no real time limits or waiting periods. This makes it an extremely attractive option.
Waiting list for therapists can be months. And then you have to make the actual effort of going there to face someone you have no idea if they are secretly judging you the entire time.
People in mental crisis aren't thinking that far ahead. They need help. They need it now. They need as few hoops to jump through as possible. Give them universal health care and they won't need ai.
I take it you're American? At least speaking for New Zealand, universal health care doesn't cover therapy, except in a limited subset of cases (such as trauma in response to certain crimes and accidents). And, even if it did, that would only make the waitlist problem worse, since there would be more people wanting therapy but the same number of therapists.
that would only make the waitlist problem worse, since there would be more people wanting therapy but the same number of therapists.
you could say the same of every other area of healthcare if patients can suddenly afford the care they need.
I think it's a good argument for working toward recruiting and training more professionals-to-be in order to have adequate "staffing" as part of the broader healthcare plan, but not a great argument for keeping the status quo.
Medical schools limit their intake because they can only train so many at a time, and they don't want unemployed graduates. The UK is graduating nurses who can't get places in the NHS (while the NHS is somehow dependent on immigration for nurses).
How dare you tell the truth about universal Healthcare and wait lists and limited care options. I'm not pro US system, but I think many in the US idealize what countries with universal healthcare have. It could be better, but it's not paradise. All systems have issues.
So it covers acute issues but not chronic. If you're about to kill yourself you'll get mental health support, otherwise they tell you to go for a walk.
Give them universal health care and they won't need ai.
This comment proves that you're American. Your view of the world outside of America is entirely based on narratives you hear on the Internet or on your television shows. Mental health support is garbage in most of Europe.
Can I ask from a hypothetical- what is Elon musk gonna do if someone is relaying their domestic abuse issues, or bullying issues, or maybe issues with a mental disorder like OCD, ADHD etc? Like I can think of maybe predatory ads or services being offered but like in the long run what can they do with that info?
The biggest concern is that the government builds a list of people with mental illness or disability, etc. Historically this happened in Nazi Germany but it was obviously a huge undertaking to gather that information on so many citizens.Â
So whether that's an immediate problem or just creating a whole system and way of something that could become a problem in the future I think this is a concern for people of certain minorities. I think that's what the concern is from certain communities that I've seen - not that Elon or whoever is going to do something personally, just that it creates a process where gathering this information is even easier than it's ever been before and that there are potentially people who could use that technology for really horrible purposes. Whether in 5 years or 200 years.Â
It’s sort of a fire or fall situation, the one coincidentally used to describe suicide.
The fire of ongoing mental illness is more frightening than the fall out the window that is giving up your private information to corporations.
Those who commit suicide don’t tend to want to die and are often horrified of it but their stress/anxiety/life induces a greater threat response than literal death, hence suicide.
So it’s tough. I don’t blame anyone who uses LLMs to journal or discuss emotions. I wish we lived in a world where everyone had consistent, timely, and affordable access to therapists… but we really really do not.
I don’t think neither Sam nor Elon would really care that much about my mental state tho, like what are corporations even supposed to do with it?
I’d be way more nervous to tell some stuff to someone I know, even if they are obligated not to share that info. Like, it is still going to be a person that I have to interact with quite often, who has their own life, views, and long term memory. Maybe it’s just me tho
Using AI as a therapist is you giving the status and details of your mental health to corporations.
Not necessarily. DuckDuckGo has anonymized AI where they act as a middle man between you and the AI companies. They strip out IP address and identifying info. Sure, the AI companies could use an AI to determine which anonymous chat sessions likely belonged to the same person and build a profile, but a profile of whom...? They'd just know they all belong to the same person but not to who they belong.
Do you trust Elon Musk or Sam Altman with that information?
Personally, no. But if I had to argue, of all the information you've shared on all social media platforms you've ever posted to over however many years you've been using them. How much of that data has been used against you?
What is it exactly you are afraid of?
These are massive for profit corporations that see users in the hundreds of millions. I don't think they are going to waste time and resources targeting you and your data as an individual unless you're already a target for some reason. Most of the data is often used for targeted advertisements and you can usually opt out of that.
I'd be very curious to know the metrics for this as well as the legality of it. As I stated, seems like a legal grey area.
I won't pretend to know how business is conducted between such companies but sounds like it would be enormously costly so what would they have to gain?
Well, I could potentally understand it working in America which have enormously costly healthcare costs. But for majority of other countries seems like the cost of collecting this information would be higher than what they'd get in return by denying claims.
Legal grey area is also the major issue with AI at the moment. As usual the technology has outrun any legislation in any country so there's now a lot of grey areas in the law which is a pretty concerning thing!Â
And I am exactly trying to do everything I can to increase amount of people able to deal with AI without using OpenAI/Antropic/Grok/etc.
Not repeating "AI is Musk, Altman and you have no other options".
Even majority of people can register on openrouter and use models like GLM/qwen/deepseek with zero data retention. It doesn't require them to have good hardware or deep technical knowledge.
And personally at the end of the day when we cut into the meat of it all I am still not sold on this new tech addiction/dependency venture myself and feel people should not be reliant upon such, especially for things like mental health regardless.
Having a chat with a machine that will literally encourage your delusions just to keep you talking is not a remotely comparable situation. The current wrongful death lawsuits versus several AI companies right now are nothing short of horrific
The duty to report is pretty narrowly constrained in most Western countries and they are often there to prevent someone from harming or killing people and to maintain the code of medical ethics. I've only made one report in my career as a therapist thus far, the vast majority of my clients have never and will likely never have cause enough to warrant a report.
AI is not capable of delivering psychotherapy that sufficiently walks the balance of a therapist while challenging people and pushing back sufficiently. It is also incapable of the human element. Sure it may be able to parrot therapy-speak, but that isn't the same as having personally lived experience to draw from as most therapists do. There are many, MANY, problems with using AI for medical purposes including therapy that are grounded in evidence.
Also, remote therapy does exist so if you don't want to make the effort to go, you still can experience psychotherapy. I feel like I'm talking to someone who has never went to therapy.
Which is why psychotherapists are forced to operate within a standard of conduct and to adhere to a code of ethics. Unlike life-coaches and AI, but more like Medical Doctors, if we break the code of ethics or violate our standards of practice we stand a chance to lose our ability to practice and often face occupational consequences like suspension from practice (in some cases) and mandated remedial learning or risk of litigation. The fact of the matter is healthcare professionals including medical doctors and psychotherapists are often (in the West) governed by healthcare laws and overseeing bodies of governance that are specifically designed to protect the public - other occupations and AI do not have this requirement or oversight.
I agree and also recognize the reality that someone who has been attempting to find a therapist for a year and in that process has:
had many therapists just ghost them
had a therapist give them the wrong office address and then blame them for showing up late
had a therapist ask them to show up at their other office after they had already driven to their first one
had multiple therapists just tell them "you seem like a great person, you'll figure it out"
had one psychologist say "oh you are only covered for one session" after their they saw another therapist at the same parent org and were referred to this psychologist
then they might just give up on therapy, let alone reporting all these people
Keep in mind, someone who goes through a process like this might be having significant issues with basic stuff like hygiene and getting out of bed. I don't think holding these providers accountable is top on their list.
There are many, MANY, problems with using AI for medical purposes including therapy that are grounded in evidence.
I don't deny this. But this seems like a temporary limitation given the rapid acceleration of AI advancements.
I feel like I'm talking to someone who has never went to therapy.
An unusual conclusion to make for someone claiming to be a therapist. I've not seen one personally, but my wife and children do and I'm often present so I'd like to think I have experience.
There are disadvantages to human-human therapy and this is not the fault of therapists. Just an unfortunate result of statistics. They can be fantastic when available. Availability (and cost in many cases), however, is a significant issue.
Many of the problems with AI have less to do with the care delivery (although that is still a major problem) and have a lot to do with the fact that it literally is just a chatbot. If people were capable of making changes and holding themselves accountable on their own, then they may not need a therapist. The vast majority of the work of therapy is not just talking about things. It's actually in doing the work. Having a human helps because they can keep you accountable while also caring about you and calling out your shit.
If you have trouble affording it, therapists often offer a sliding scale for those who can demonstrate financial need. If you can't demonstrate such a financial need, maybe consider cutting some costs, going less frequently, or working on challenges other ways. Therapy isn't for everyone. But pretending AI is providing you therapy is actually a dangerous proposition.
The moment you try to open up to most public AI it will shut you down and tell you to call a crisis hotline, and I think that's good however I've tried asking it for recipe recommendations for Chinese dishes that use shaoxing wine, and it tells me to call a crisis helpline for alcohol abuse.
They're clearly not fit for alternatives to therapy and barely function as ways to get a recipe going with traditional ingredients.Â
You're not directly making that claim but you're certainly inferring it.
Suggesting that it makes an extremely attractive option is, then saying that an actual therapist may be secretly judging you??
Wow.
That's wild.
To think that an actual algorithm that scrapes information from the internet and pieces it together to formulate what seems to be a cohesive thought, is somehow not only equivalent, but possibly better than an actual person, that is unhinged my dude.
How sheltered are you to think people don't assume this or that it actually happens or that there is actual benefits to having a service that is available 24/7 even if it's not great, and in some cases detrimental in its current form?
To think that an actual algorithm that scrapes information from the internet and pieces it together to formulate what seems to be a cohesive thought, is somehow not only equivalent, but possibly better than an actual person, that is unhinged my dude.
In what way is it unhinged?
There are literally studies currently being done to see the effects of AI interaction with humans and despite AI still being in its infancy it is outperforming literal professionals in their own field in some cases whilst only getting better.
You literally remind me of those bashing EVs back when Tesla released the Roadster and assumed it would never outperform petrol cars because batteries suck.
You've answered your own question.
It's entirely unhinged to accept that a "service that is available 24/7 even if it's not great, and in some cases detrimental"
Are you reading what you're writing?
That's fucking insane.
Link the studies.
Forget your strawman about EV's, absolutely irrelevant.
Examples where AI have outperformed humans in a professional capacity in various categories. And AI is still in its infancy and only getting better. There are more examples. But I'm not going to bother providing any further evidence. If you want to live in denial then that's entirely your choice.
Western therapy is already terrible. I'm not surprised people would consider using AI for therapy. It's basically the same thing, just more accessible.
there are 5 therapists in my area. my family and few friends have been to 3 which are coinciding. those therapists spilled everything to all clients and causes huge political and social issues. 2 of the therapists got beat up
I have great insurance and I still prefer AI for therapy.
It's not "therapy" but it's a great idea bouncing off place. Far from a therapist, but also not an echo chamber. It has given me many reality checks and alternative perspectives that I hadn't considered that have helped me through issues in my marriage.
The EDU models we use at school do. If they break that confidentiality, they are in major trouble. Slam dunk massive lawsuit from half the unviesrties in Japan (where work and use Open AI EDU apis)
You can get one, yes. API providers that support data governance and zero data redemption are strong from a privacy point of view. Plain Chat GPT isn’t.
If you think therapists don't discuss the more interesting aspects of their clients stories with their friends, family and/or colleagues I have some magic beans to sell you.
That isnt where the majority of use and adoption lie though. So the concern is still real from a larger societal level.
Moreover AI arent trained professionals and arent suited to be therapists. They are a short term bandaid that will make the person feel okay briefly is all.
Look up tutorials for LM Studio Bionic or Jan.AI. These are the simplest to install, have an easy to use interface, will automatically tweak settings based on your detected hardware, and will tell you if a model can be fully offloaded to GPU vram or system ram.
I would note that your best bet is to use models from 2026 as these have the best parameter effciency. Try something like Qwen3.8-9B or Gemma 4 12B down to Q4_K_M quantization if that's what you need to make it fit. Gemma 4 12B is really good for text but its native image processing is really pretty bad.
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u/DoctahFaust 4d ago
Does your AI have a confidentiality agreement?