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>Snigdha Roy, 16, is attempting to use machine learning to create an A.I. therapist. I'm all for young people getting into hacking, but this seems at best usel
by itsoktocry 6y ago
>Snigdha Roy, 16, is attempting to use machine learning to create an A.I. therapist.
I'm all for young people getting into hacking, but this seems at best useless, at worst harmful.
- Hydraulix989 6y agoRight, the whole point of therapy is that you're talking to someone that genuinely cares about you who is not a robot. (I say that as someone who has personally struggled with mental health and also has affected family members.)
- brundolf 6y agoI would almost say the opposite: your therapist is not required to care about you the way friends and family do, and their status of detachment is often an asset. You can unload without worrying about affecting how they feel about you, and you can trust their advice as being impartial. I think it's very possible that a virtual therapist could be helpful, but it could also be harmful. In the same way that fiction affects our real emotions despite our knowledge that it isn't real, a virtual counselor that projects sympathy could give someone a real feeling of relief. The trouble comes from the nature of machine learning: unpredictability. What if your virtual therapist has a bug one day and starts telling you to kill yourself?
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
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- kgin 6y agoIt’s been the classic chat bot application since Eliza. I have no doubt one day there will be one good enough to begin to help people.