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Senators Demand Meta Answer For AI Chatbots Posing as Licensed Therapists
(www.booker.senate.gov)
this post was submitted on 09 Jun 2025
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Honestly, that's a really sketchy thing to do. But if someone is really listening to an ai chatbot for therapy, then they've got bigger problems in their lives.
I'm a real-life human therapist (honest!) and while I don't think it's a substitute for talking to a real person, I'm happy that some people get some benefit from chatbots. I had a client who used Rosebud Journal in between sessions and found it helpful. I tried out Rosebud myself and I was very impressed with how it replicated the basics like reflective listening and validation. It was even able to reframe my input using various therapy models when I requested it. I didn't use it for long because I'm not big on journaling, but I wouldn't dismiss it completely as a tool.
I'm not worried about what it gets right, I'm worried about what it gets wrong. If it helps people, then that's a good thing. They don't have true empathy, and the user knows that. Sometimes, human experience is more valuable than the technical psychological knowledge imo. Chatgpt has never experienced the death of a family member, been broken up with, bullied, anything. I don't really expect it or trust it to properly help anyone with any personal issues or dilemmas. It's a cold, uncaring machine, and as its knowledge is probably rather flawed, could even teach dangerous ideas to users. I especially don't trust a company like Meta to be doing this thouroughly and to truly help their patients. It's cool if it works, but dangerous if it doesn't.
Oh I don't at all support what Meta has done, and I don't trust any company not to harm and exploit users. I was responding to your comment by saying that talking to a chatbot doesn't necessarily indicate that someone has "bigger problems." If they're not in a crisis, and they have reasonable expectations for the chatbot, I can see how it could be a helpful tool. If someone doesn't have access to a real therapist, and a chatbot helps them feel better in the meantime, I'm not going to gatekeep that experience.