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Huh, I expected going in that this would actually be about LLMs waiting on customer service lines or whatever. That actually seems like it would be a rare soci

Huh, I expected going in that this would actually be about LLMs waiting on customer service lines or whatever. That actually seems like it would be a rare social good produced by these things; plenty of organizations seem to shirk their responsibility to provide prompt customer service by hoping people will give up… I’m less convinced of the good of an AI therapist. Seems too healthcare-y for these current buggy messes. But if somebody is aided by having a digital shoulder to cry on… eh, ok, why not?

TeMPOraL 1y ago
> I’m less convinced of the good of an AI therapist. Seems too healthcare-y for these current buggy messes. But if somebody is aided by having a digital shoulder to cry on… eh, ok, why not? Medium-term that may be the problem. The social aspect of having another person "see you" is important in therapy. But on the immediate term, LLMs are a huge positive in this space. Professional therapy is stupidly expensive in terms of time and money, and makes it unavailable to majority of people, even those rather well-off. And then there's availability, which, beyond what the article discussed, matters also because many people have problems that don't fit well with typical 1h sessions 2-4 times a month. LLMs let one have a 2+h therapy sessions every day at random hours for as long it takes for one to unburden themselves completely; something that's neither available nor affordable for most people.