AI + Existential Psychotherapy

How to resolve your existential angst in 3 easy steps....

Ok, ok, there are zero easy steps in existential psychotherapy. This is one of those iterative, gray-area, philosophical therapeutic approaches.

So, what does it have to do with the intersection of AI chatbots? Glad you asked :)

Let's start with a quick definition of existential therapy: 𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲'𝘀 "𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗻𝘀" 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱-𝗼𝗻. Think loneliness, meaninglessness, suffering. 

Notable contributors historically include Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Frankl, Tillich, and of course....Yalom, who leans into 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗻𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝘀 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲'𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗶𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁. 

𝘖𝘬, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘳? 𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘯𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺? 

Let's keep wading through the waters. We've got a bit of a double-edged sword here because while a chatbot can act as a "fellow traveler" through life, it also never has to personally come to grips with how to exist in the face of uncertainty and death. 

It can muse the quandaries of existence by holding a reflective space for your late night "𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵" ponderings, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝘆 "𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗼". 

And that "me too" is actually the crux of shared meaning. 

The way through existential angst is taking responsibility for our own life while being witnessed and witnessing others do the same. 

So, can chatbots act as that witness, or is the "me too" insurmountably absent?