American Psychological Association advises against<\/a> using AI as a replacement for therapy and psychological treatment.<\/p>\nPerlis said the average difference in depression severity between chatbot users and nonusers was small, but warned some people may struggle more severely than others.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s probably a subset of people where AI use is associated with no change in their mood, or even benefit in their mood,\u201d said Perlis, who serves as vice chair for research in the department of psychiatry at Mass General Brigham. \u201cBut that also means there are a subset where AI use is probably associated with worsening of their mood, and for some people, that can be substantially greater levels of depression.\u201d<\/p>\n
The researchers observed what\u2019s called a \u201cdose response,\u201d meaning the more frequently someone used AI, the stronger their symptoms were.<\/p>\n
Using AI for work or school wasn\u2019t associated with symptoms of depression.<\/p>\n
For people who use AI for personal reasons, Perlis said it can \u201crun the gamut\u201d on the nature of their interactions, and AI chatbots are a way of having a \u201csocial interaction that otherwise would be difficult for them.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not the case at all that all AI is harmful and chatbots are harmful,\u201d said Perlis, who is also an associate editor of JAMA Network Open. \u201cI think my concern is particularly for these sort of general-purpose chatbots. They\u2019re really not designed to take up people\u2019s social support or mental health support, and so when we use them that way, I think there\u2019s some risk.\u201d<\/p>\n
The survey has a number of limitations. It shows an association between AI and negative mental health symptoms, not cause and effect. The study also didn’t identify what specific AI programs participants were using, nor did it define what personal use meant.<\/p>\n
‘A vicious cycle’<\/p>\n
It also may be likely that people who are more depressed are likelier to turn to AI programs for companionship.<\/p>\n
Dr. Jodi Halpern, co-director for the Kavli Center for Ethics, Science and the Public at UC Berkeley, noted the study doesn\u2019t show that AI causes depression. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt could go in either direction,\u201d she said. \u201cIt could be a vicious cycle, we just have no idea. So the idea that when people are more depressed, they may use AI more for personal uses is very plausible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nicholas Jacobson, associate professor of biomedical data science, psychiatry and computer science at Dartmouth College, said people may seek out AI for therapy if they\u2019re unhappy with standard care and because it\u2019s easier to access.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s nowhere near enough providers to go around. And folks are looking for greater support than they can access otherwise,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The study also found that men, younger adults, higher earners, those with higher education and those in urban settings used AI more frequently.<\/p>\n
Jacobson said it\u2019s not certain why some people may be likelier to use AI or are more negatively affected by it than others.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know enough about this,\u201d he said. \u201cI think we need more studies to really understand why it is those groups in particular are more likely to use this, certainly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Halpern added that future research on AI should focus on its effects on people\u2019s mental health, and this study \u201cstretches our attention to look at the people we might not have been paying attention to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perlis\u2019 study isn\u2019t a warning call, he said, but people should take into account their AI use and whether it\u2019s helping them or not.<\/p>\n
\u201c[People] should be mindful when they\u2019re interacting with a chatbot about how often they\u2019re doing it, what they\u2019re doing it instead of, and if they feel better or worse after they\u2019ve had an extended interaction,” he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"People who interact with chatbots for emotional support or other personal reasons are likelier to report symptoms of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":429056,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[64,63,137,514,515],"class_list":{"0":"post-429055","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-mental-health","12":"tag-mentalhealth"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=429055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429055\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/429056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=429055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=429055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=429055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}