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According to a George Mason University flash poll of about 500 people across the country, about 50% reported using AI for support with mental health issues. That figure goes up to 80% for those between ages 25 and 34.
And 15% of respondents said they used AI for mental health issues every day.
“We’ve discovered that it is a very convenient and easy and intimate and easily accessible tool for responding to mental health concerns,” said Melissa Perry, dean of George Mason’s College of Public Health.
While people admit to using the tech for mental health support, some do have lingering questions. People participating in their surveys, Perry said, wonder whether the information they get from AI is trustworthy and whether it ensures their privacy.
“They were concerned about the privacy and the confidentiality of the data that they were providing by interacting with a chat bot, and they’re also wondering whether or not such platforms have been evaluated and optimized by mental health professionals,” Perry said. “But it’s critically important to keep in mind that they aren’t a replacement for human counselors and therapists and trained mental health professionals.”
Society, Perry said, has become increasingly more comfortable with screens. However, she said, too much dependence on communicating with a machine could lead some to forget that “we are social beings who need to interact and live in a social world.”
“Using AI is in response to feelings of loneliness, but it can’t be a cure,” Perry said.
In the coming years, people who responded to the survey said the tech could be helpful for lowering the cost of mental health services and offering real-time support in particularly stressful moments.
“The loneliness epidemic has become widely recognized,” Perry said. “People are turning to computers and to chat bots and platforms as a way to cope with loneliness, but it’s not going to be a cure.”
Further research, Perry said, may help determine how the tech can help people in need without creating a sense of false security or errors in the type of advice that chatbots provide.
More information on researchers’ findings is available online.