5 ms·

Please, please, please don’t make this mistake. It is not a therapist. At best, it might be a facsimile of a life coach, but it does not have your best interest

by borski 7mo ago

Please, please, please don’t make this mistake. It is not a therapist. At best, it might be a facsimile of a life coach, but it does not have your best interests in mind. It is easy to convince and trivial to make obsequious. That is not what a therapist does. There’s a reason they spend thousands of hours in training; that is not an exaggeration. Humans are complex. An LLM cannot parse that level of complexity.

roncesvalles 7mo ago
You seem to think therapists are only for those in dire straits. Yes, if you're at that point, definitely speak to a human. But there are many ordinary things for which "drop-in" therapist advice is also useful. For me: mild road rage, social anxiety, processing embarrassment from past events, etc. The tools and reframing that LLMs have given me (Gemini 3.0/3.1 Pro) have been extremely effective and have genuinely improved my life. These things don't even cross the threshold to be worth the effort to find and speak to an actual therapist.
- borski 7mo ago
  I never said therapists were only for those in crisis; that is a misreading of my argument entirely. An LLM cannot parse the complexity of your situation. Period. It is literally incapable of doing that, because it does not have any idea what it is like to be human. Therapy is not an objective science; it is, in many ways, subjective, and the therapeutic relationship is by far the most important part. I am not saying LLMs are not useful for helping people parse their emotions or understand themselves better. But that is not therapy, in the same way that using an app built for CBT is not, in and of itself, therapy. It is one tool in a therapist’s toolbox, and will not be the right tool for all patients. That doesn’t mean it isn’t helpful. But an LLM is not a therapist. The fact that you can trivially convince it to believe things that are absolutely untrue is precisely why, for one simple example.
  - vanviegen 7mo ago
    As you said earlier, therapists are (thoroughly) trained on how to best handle situations. Just 'being human' (and thus empathizing) may not be such a big part of the job as you seem to believe. Training LLMs we can do. Though it might be important for the patient to believe that the therapist is empathizing, so that may give AI therapy an inherent disadvantage (depending on the patient's view of AI).
    - emp17344 7mo ago
      Socialization with other humans has so many benefits for happiness, mental health, and longevity. Conversely, interaction with LLMs often leads to AI psychosis and harms mental health. IMO, this is pretty strong evidence that interaction with LLMs is not similar to socialization with real humans, and a pretty good indicator that LLM “therapy” is significantly less helpful or even harmful than human-driven therapy.
      - borski 7mo ago
        Precisely.
    - borski 7mo ago
      > Just 'being human' (and thus empathizing) may not be such a big part of the job as you seem to believe. The word “just” is not in my comment anywhere. Being human is necessary, but not sufficient. And no, you cannot train an LLM to be human. An LLM is not a therapist. Please do not confuse the two. You cannot train an LLM on how to be human.
- defrost 7mo ago
  Which professional therapist does your Gemini 3.0/3.1 Pro model see? Do you think I could use an AI therapist to become a more effective and much improved serial killer?
- darkerside 7mo ago
  [dead]
pzs 7mo ago
While I agree with you, I also find that an LLM can help organize my thoughts and come to realizations that I just didn't get to, because I hadn't explained verbally what I am thinking and feeling. Definitely not a substitute for human interaction and relationships, which can be fulfilling in many-many ways LLM's are not, but LLM's can still be helpful as long as you exercise your critical thinking skills. My preference remains always to talk to a friend though. EDIT: seems like you made the same point in a child comment.
- borski 7mo ago
  Yeah, I agree with all of that. A friend built an “emotion aware” coach, and it is extremely useful to both of us. But he still sees a therapist, regularly, because they are not the same and do not serve the same purpose. :)

by borski 7mo ago

roncesvalles 7mo ago

You seem to think therapists are only for those in dire straits. Yes, if you're at that point, definitely speak to a human. But there are many ordinary things for which "drop-in" therapist advice is also useful. For me: mild road rage, social anxiety, processing embarrassment from past events, etc. The tools and reframing that LLMs have given me (Gemini 3.0/3.1 Pro) have been extremely effective and have genuinely improved my life. These things don't even cross the threshold to be worth the effort to find and speak to an actual therapist.

borski 7mo ago
I never said therapists were only for those in crisis; that is a misreading of my argument entirely. An LLM cannot parse the complexity of your situation. Period. It is literally incapable of doing that, because it does not have any idea what it is like to be human. Therapy is not an objective science; it is, in many ways, subjective, and the therapeutic relationship is by far the most important part. I am not saying LLMs are not useful for helping people parse their emotions or understand themselves better. But that is not therapy, in the same way that using an app built for CBT is not, in and of itself, therapy. It is one tool in a therapist’s toolbox, and will not be the right tool for all patients. That doesn’t mean it isn’t helpful. But an LLM is not a therapist. The fact that you can trivially convince it to believe things that are absolutely untrue is precisely why, for one simple example.
- vanviegen 7mo ago
  As you said earlier, therapists are (thoroughly) trained on how to best handle situations. Just 'being human' (and thus empathizing) may not be such a big part of the job as you seem to believe. Training LLMs we can do. Though it might be important for the patient to believe that the therapist is empathizing, so that may give AI therapy an inherent disadvantage (depending on the patient's view of AI).
  - emp17344 7mo ago
    Socialization with other humans has so many benefits for happiness, mental health, and longevity. Conversely, interaction with LLMs often leads to AI psychosis and harms mental health. IMO, this is pretty strong evidence that interaction with LLMs is not similar to socialization with real humans, and a pretty good indicator that LLM “therapy” is significantly less helpful or even harmful than human-driven therapy.
    - borski 7mo ago
      Precisely.
  - borski 7mo ago
    > Just 'being human' (and thus empathizing) may not be such a big part of the job as you seem to believe. The word “just” is not in my comment anywhere. Being human is necessary, but not sufficient. And no, you cannot train an LLM to be human. An LLM is not a therapist. Please do not confuse the two. You cannot train an LLM on how to be human.
defrost 7mo ago
Which professional therapist does your Gemini 3.0/3.1 Pro model see? Do you think I could use an AI therapist to become a more effective and much improved serial killer?
darkerside 7mo ago
[dead]

pzs 7mo ago

While I agree with you, I also find that an LLM can help organize my thoughts and come to realizations that I just didn't get to, because I hadn't explained verbally what I am thinking and feeling. Definitely not a substitute for human interaction and relationships, which can be fulfilling in many-many ways LLM's are not, but LLM's can still be helpful as long as you exercise your critical thinking skills. My preference remains always to talk to a friend though. EDIT: seems like you made the same point in a child comment.

borski 7mo ago
Yeah, I agree with all of that. A friend built an “emotion aware” coach, and it is extremely useful to both of us. But he still sees a therapist, regularly, because they are not the same and do not serve the same purpose. :)