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There plenty of personal reasons not to use AI chatbots as therapists. They\u2019re sycophantic<\/a>, make for ineffective shrinks<\/a>, and can be downright dangerous for anyone with preexisting mental illness<\/a> \u2014 and sometimes even for people with none<\/a>.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s to say nothing of their effects on actual human therapists, many of whom say their profession is increasingly being strangled by the rise of low-effort, low-cost chatbots.<\/p>\n Some 2,400 mental health care workers staged a 24-hour strike in northern California this week, in protest over concerns that they\u2019re being replaced with AI systems. The company they work for, Kaiser Permanente, has denied that any automation is taking place, but according to the workers and their union, the threat is becoming all too real.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been reassigned from triage to other duties,\u201d Ilana Marcucci-Morris, a licensed clinical social worker told NPR<\/a>. \u201cWhat used to always be a 10- to 15-minute screening from a licensed clinician like myself is now being conducted by unlicensed lay operators following a script, or e-visits, so an app is triaging members\u2019 care needs.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the Associated Press<\/a>, the mental health care workers were joined by over 23,000 Kaiser nurses, a decisive show of force as the threat of automation rises.<\/p>\n \u201cPart of our unfair labor practice strike really is about the erosion of licensed triage within the health plan,\u201d Marucci-Morris told NPR. \u201cThere is a lot of fear and anxiety about AI, and in particular, fear around AI replacing jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n The medical workers\u2019 concerns aren\u2019t just about mass layoffs. Like many workers throughout the US, they\u2019re also concerned with worsening work conditions<\/a> that follow AI initiatives \u2014 for example, management demands on mental health workers to fast-track charting with AI in order to squeeze more patient visits into a single shift.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re trying to take all that time away,\u201d Kaiser psychiatrist and union steward for the National Union of Healthcare Workers told the AP. \u201cThey really just want us to be seeing people back to back to back, to be seeing more people for less time with less resources.\u201d<\/p>\n Katy Roemer, a family medicine nurse concurs. <\/p>\n \u201cIs AI going to benefit patients? Is AI going to benefit the people that work for Kaiser Permanente?\u201d she asked the AP. \u201cOr is AI going to benefit the bottom line of the corporation?\u201d<\/p>\n