Patients’ expectations are shifting as to who to turn to for help with mental health issues: it can be the AI tool like ChatGPT. This shift is occasioned by the ease with which the platforms used are affordable and easily accessible. As effective as therapy can be, it is often costly and can be very challenging or even impossible to get an appointment for due to monetary or geographic limitations, so people will usually not receive the help they might need. Always online, and free of charge, ChatGPT allows users to receive feedback on their thoughts and feelings directly. This has lead to the current position although, some people have opted for AI instead of therapy since they cannot get the other services.
But there are some mental health parities in AI that specialists recommend not using an AI platform for therapeutic ones. The first and the most obvious argument can be the following – the AI cannot apply the professional knowledge and experienced emotions that are so important in the sphere of mental health. This is a very individual process, as the therapist defines an individual course and treatment, taking into account their client’s characteristics, results of previous sessions, and state of mind. Although models like ChatGPT are sophisticated, they lack the human touch a genuine therapist offers and are unable to give a client an immediate emotional connection.
He also pointed to the problem of fake news: ‘Another problem highlighted by professionals.’ Although ChatGPT has access to a vast amount of data, it lacks proper judgment of which data should be used in which context or justifiably correct data. This is unhelpful as it remains a possibility; more so for people who are looking for assistance in severe conditions, such as depression or anxiety. In such cases, the AI will often make a response which may be useful but possibly dangerous, or may lead to a situation that calls for an action from a professional. This is more so where there is crisis or trauma where adequate and timely treatment is imperative is given.
Considered ethical concerns are essential, primarily such a question as privacy and protection of the provided information. This means that while people seek help from human therapists through online platforms, then the information conveyed is protected by the law of confidentiality, the AI platforms such as ChatGPT are unlikely to afford similar protection.People may talk to an AI for many purposes and this conversational data can be used to retrain the model or for some other use, this brings the question of how users’ information is protected or if their privacy is as guarded as it should. However, a user exercising confidence that such firms as OpenAI are serious about these matters may not fully appreciate the extent to which his/her data is managed.
Nevertheless, there are still lively debates among practitioners of mental health as to the extent that AI solutions such as ChatGPT can occupy another position apart from conventional therapeutic methods. It can help people who have a bit of stress or in cases where one needs quick and short term help, useful tips, breathing exercises or other ways of coping with stress. Some of the experts agree with these notions but theyopine that it is not a direct replacement for traditional professional assistance and at its best it can be useful for resolve one sort of problem in a timely fashion and it should not be used as a replacement for therapy especially for patient with complex psychological disorders.
Finally, while it can assist in the cause of making accesses to mental therapy more easily available, it is also severely lacking in the advantage of a human-social interaction with a therapist. Telling a single software program when emotions are too much to handle is liberating as a human being and users must always realize the limitations of artificial intelligence. Mental health worker believe that at some point it is beneficial and might give temporary solution or an advice at best, and at most, should be seen as one of the tools in handling mental health issues not the answer to them.
