Almost a quarter (22%) of young adults, aged 18-21, use AI for mental health advice, with at least two thirds (65%) of these doing so at least monthly. A Chatbot is the ultimate in accessibility for the technologically able. This raises the question of whether we really need psychological therapists? What is the added value of routinely delivered psychological help over and above AI assisted therapy? The economic case for AI assisted therapy is clear, little or no staffing/renting costs. The burden of proof is going to rest on the coalition of private providers/University CBT courses to demonstrate their added value. However, since their inception in 2008, they have studiously avoided independent appraisal of their wares and refused to engage in public debate. For whom the bell tolls?
For all ages the proportion using AI was 13%, with 92.7% of users finding the Chatbot at least somewhat helpful.
But an article in The Guardian on November 30 revealed that chatbots offer dangerous advice to those whose mental health is vulnerable. However, the advice is better for every day hassles.
A major problem for AI is the use of a standardised benchmark – an independently conducted standardised diagnostic interview is the ‘gold standard’ and has never been employed. But the same is also true of NHS Talking Therapies. The claimed successes cannot be trusted in either modality.
It may be that it is only the professional bodies the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) and the British Psychological Society (BPS) that need them. Santa, has it seems universally distributed ChatGPT but does it meet trading standards? Probably, as much or as little as routine psychological therapy.
McBain, R. K., Bozick, R., Diliberti, M., Zhang, L. A., Zhang, F., Burnett, A., . . . & Yu, H. (2025). Use of generative AI for mental health advice among US adolescents and young adults. JAMA Network Open, 8(11), e2542281. (Full text)
Dr Mike Scott