Lyra Health on Tuesday announced its members will be able to talk about their mental health with a chatbot, making it the largest company to launch a generative artificial intelligence product as a part of ongoing therapy treatment.
With its chatbot, called Lyra AI, the company joins a bevy of smaller mental health startups that have taken varying approaches to incorporating generative AI into their offerings. It’s further confirmation that companies are barreling ahead with using products powered by large language models in care even as there’s concern from experts, regulators, and lawmakers that the tech can behave unpredictably. Already there’s evidence that widely available consumer bots such as ChatGPT are causing people to spiral into delusions, and bots have allegedly been involved in cases in which users harmed themselves.
There’s also evidence that many people are already using consumer chatbots as a therapist, and it was this popularity that led Lyra to begin developing its own offering last year, said Jenny Gonsalves, the company’s chief product and technology officer.
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Individual plans
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