Mental Health: AI and Psychosis: What To Know, What To Do

As concern grows about online chatbots and mental health, an expert cautions about the potential risk to already-vulnerable people, especially teens and young adults. The ability to “talk” with an AI tool that reinforces and rewards what a person is thinking, doesn’t question their assumptions or conclusions, and has no human sense of morals, ethics, balance, or humanity, can clearly create hazardous situations, he says. And the better AI chatbots get at simulating real conversations and human language use, the more powerful they will get. Taylor is especially worried about the potential effects on someone who is already prone to developing psychosis because of their age and underlying mental health or social situation.