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I do wonder what the arguments for AI therapy are Vs the arguments against AI therapy. I am in agreement with you, I just intuitively think it’s a terrible ide

I do wonder what the arguments for AI therapy are Vs the arguments against AI therapy. I am in agreement with you, I just intuitively think it’s a terrible idea - however, my intuition could be wrong. I think I’d be more comfortable making an argument against AI therapy, but I think it would be important to hear arguments for AI therapy as well. Is it possible that AI could be used to enhance therapy, rather than replace it?

mindcrime 3y ago
To me, probably the biggest argument against is is the privacy/confidentiality aspect. I mean, OK, sure, conversations with a real world human therapist could be leaked. I'm sure it has happened... but I believe the odds of your AI-Therapist's server being hacked and having all of the chat logs leaked is a lot higher than somebody breaking into your IRL therapist's office and stealing their notes, or water-boarding them into giving up all the salacious details about your life. Outside of that, I'm not sure I believe that AI's will be able to delivery truly efficacious (and safe) therapy anytime soon. And don't get me wrong - I'm an AI advocate. I spend a lot of my time on AI and related subjects, and believe AGI is possible, maybe even probable. But even AGI won't necessarily understand human feelings and emotions since at the end of the day, the "A" in "AGI" still stand for "Artificial". That is to say, I think we can make machines that are "as smart as humans" without being human, or having a shared, visceral understanding of the human experience. But mostly, I expect that "AI therapist" services will just be data logging / data mining fronts that will use the content of your most private thoughts to try to sell you more shit, and/or will eventually get hacked and leak your most private thoughts onto the 'net. So yeah... not something that needs to exist, IMO.
- Quinzel 3y ago
  I agree with you 100%

mindcrime 3y ago

To me, probably the biggest argument against is is the privacy/confidentiality aspect. I mean, OK, sure, conversations with a real world human therapist could be leaked. I'm sure it has happened... but I believe the odds of your AI-Therapist's server being hacked and having all of the chat logs leaked is a lot higher than somebody breaking into your IRL therapist's office and stealing their notes, or water-boarding them into giving up all the salacious details about your life. Outside of that, I'm not sure I believe that AI's will be able to delivery truly efficacious (and safe) therapy anytime soon. And don't get me wrong - I'm an AI advocate. I spend a lot of my time on AI and related subjects, and believe AGI is possible, maybe even probable. But even AGI won't necessarily understand human feelings and emotions since at the end of the day, the "A" in "AGI" still stand for "Artificial". That is to say, I think we can make machines that are "as smart as humans" without being human, or having a shared, visceral understanding of the human experience. But mostly, I expect that "AI therapist" services will just be data logging / data mining fronts that will use the content of your most private thoughts to try to sell you more shit, and/or will eventually get hacked and leak your most private thoughts onto the 'net. So yeah... not something that needs to exist, IMO.

Quinzel 3y ago
I agree with you 100%