Limbic has developed a bot trained in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques, the most common form of talk therapy, to help people dealing with mental health struggles<\/a>. It has already been integrated into nearly half of NHS Talking Therapies services after gaining regulatory approval in 2023 as a certified medical device. As a digital \u201cfront door\u201d, it handles intake, assesses patient needs, gets them booked into care and offers CBT therapy based on clinical care guidelines.<\/p>\n For a health service riven by long waiting times and striking doctors, Limbic\u2019s bot provides a rare bright spot. It has already guided more than 500,000 people into care and saved tens of thousands of hours of precious human labour.<\/p>\n And yet, it is operating in a Wild West. Type \u201cAI Therapy\u201d into Apple\u2019s App Store and a stream of options appear, from ChatGPT to Replika, maker of racy AI \u201cfriends\u201d; from Elon Musk\u2019s Grok, the bot that only last month referred to itself as \u201cMechaHitler\u201d<\/a>, to a menagerie of \u201cwellness\u201d apps that sell themselves as therapists but, critically, lack the clinical underpinnings that any human would need to assign this label. <\/p>\n Some of Grok\u2019s responses have raised concerns<\/p>\n CHENG XIN\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n \u201cCompanies are playing fast and loose with what is a protected term,\u201d Harper said. \u201cIf you\u2019re a human, you can\u2019t call yourself a therapist if you don\u2019t have a licence to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n Indeed, a surfeit of stories have surfaced in recent months of people turning to ChatGPT for a sympathetic ear. Some strike up deep relationships, others have been guided deeper into their own delusions.<\/p>\n The profusion of AI therapy bots speaks not only to the peril but also the need. \u201cThe problem that we\u2019re really targeting is one of supply and demand,\u201d Harper said. \u201cThere are just not enough trained mental health professionals alive on the planet to serve the astronomical number of individuals struggling with a mental health issue.\u201d <\/p>\n A 2023 report by the Virginia-based National Alliance on Mental Illness found that nearly half of the 60 million Americans with mental health issues go untreated. The gap is even worse in Britain, where the charity Mind estimates that only a third of people suffering from mental illness receive care.<\/p>\n The arrival of large language models (LLMs), capable of understanding complex ideas and responding to queries in natural language, presented an opportunity that dozens of companies have seized upon. Most take the form of direct-to-consumer apps that are free to download and charge a flat monthly fee for access.<\/p>\n![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/\/d9a72b39-6cac-42ae-b5eb-e03e7db73f1f.jpg\")
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