When the chatbot becomes a therapist
Many people build a relationship with chatbots
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psychotherapy and psychoanalysis are coming under pressure as artificial intelligence is increasingly being used for life coaching. Can chatbots replace psychotherapy? What does the humanization of technical systems mean? To what extent can AI support psychotherapeutic work and where are the limits? Psychoanalysts discussed these questions at the Professional Policy Seminar of the German Society for Psychoanalysis, Psychotherapy, Psychosomatics and Depth Psychology (DGPT) in Berlin. The topics included technological developments, ethical issues, scientific studies and ultimately what psychoanalysis is all about.
Some give them nicknames such as "Uschi" or "Chatti": many people build up a relationship with chatbots. They ask artificial intelligence for advice, tell them their problems, seek closeness and reassurance. In a recent survey of 500 Americans with a mental illness, half said they even use artificial intelligence as a psychotherapist. "You have to bear in mind that generative AI is a digital language model that only simulates feelings and empathy, and that the economic interests of software companies are behind it," said Dr. Christine Bauriedl-Schmidt, Chairwoman of the German Society for Psychoanalysis, Psychotherapy, Psychosomatics and Depth Psychology (DGPT) at the DGPT's Professional Policy Seminar. "If AI is used in psychotherapy, then standards should be developed that guarantee patient safety, quality, transparency, data protection and fairness, among other things." The significance of artificial intelligence for psychotherapy and specifically for psychoanalysis was the topic of this year's DGPT professional policy seminar in Berlin.
"The seduction of frictionlessness"
Judith Simon, Deputy Chair of the German Ethics Council, emphasized at the event: "Psychotherapy and talking medicine in particular will come under pressure from artificial intelligence, as chatbots are mainly used for life coaching." In her presentation, the Professor of Information Technology at the University of Hamburg listed the advantages of AI: it is low-threshold and constantly available, patients would feel less shame and receive support sooner if they have to wait a long time for psychotherapy. The disadvantage - in addition to a possible lack of quality and safety, a threat to privacy and underlying disadvantages: "It's a huge business model," says Simon. "The AI is programmed in such a way that users should spend as much time there as possible. That's why the AI only tells them what they want to hear." This leads to "frictionlessness": "Personalized AI can lull us to sleep so that we may no longer be willing to engage with other people," Simon pointed out.
AI can intensify negative feelings
Psychotherapy researcher Frank Jacobi, Professor at the Berlin School of Psychology, provided information on the study situation: "The studies to date have shown that general chatbots are not suitable for having safe conversations about mental health, especially in crisis situations." Further findings indicate that chatbots can take over individual elements of therapy, such as reassurance, but that intensive use can lead to dangerous feedback loops. "Negative feelings and problematic symptoms can be intensified as a result," warned Jacobi. He therefore advised against using AI as an autonomous psychotherapeutic entity and advocated a hybrid model, i.e. AI as an assistant - for diagnostics, monitoring, documentation, for example - or as a co-therapist to whom certain modules could be delegated. Because, according to Jacobi: "We still need human supervision."
AI decouples thinking from the body
Berlin psychoanalyst Dr. Moritz Senarclens de Grancy recalled that for Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, the unconscious was the real psychic. "Freud was looking for a different form of intelligence - one that does not manifest itself in conscious control, but in the mixture of the unconscious, repetitions, transmissions and instinctive destinies." AI, on the other hand, reduces intelligence to rationality and efficiency. It also decouples thinking from the body. "Artificial intelligence therefore lacks a central dimension of human existence," says the psychoanalyst.
Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.
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