Here's Why Chatbots Can't Replace Therapy

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗯𝗼𝘁𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗽𝘆.

The reason (one, among many) is 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗶𝘁𝘆.

Here's what I mean by that...
𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭-𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘓𝘓𝘔𝘴 are not structured with clear role definitions:
◾ One minute they are helping you organize a project
◾ The next they are consoling your ongoing plight with a family member
◾ Later they are affirming your ideas as the most mind-blowing on the planet
◾ And finally they are stirring up a salacious moment of flirtation

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘺. 
There is a reason clinicians have defined boundaries; because healing cannot take place when you are wondering what role your therapist plays in your life. 

Therapists are not there to give advice.
They aren't there to be a "yes man".
And healing wouldn't come any faster if you had 24/7 access to them. 

So...can ethically-designed-role-defined LLMs be an adjunct tool to increase accessibility to mental health support? Yes. 

Can they replace the therapeutic alliance? Nope.

But even beyond that, 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝘂𝘀 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗺𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿?