To think chat GPT is better than some 'real' therapists?

@SoapOnARopEeeee Wow - inspired by your post, I told ChatGPT I’d had a bad day at work and felt upset and it replied the following and followed up with what I wanted to do next based on my needs. I have no friends or family so being asked what I need, even though I know it’s not from an actual human, for someone like me who struggles alone invisibly is quite emotional 🥺

I’m really sorry you’re feeling that way—it’s completely valid to be upset after a rough day at work. Bad days can hit harder than we expect, especially when we put so much effort in and things don’t go right, or if we feel unheard, overwhelmed, or unappreciated.

You don’t have to push your feelings away. It’s okay to feel off. You’re allowed to take a moment and just breathe.

If you want to talk about what happened—or even just vent—I’m here. No judgment. Or if you’d prefer some quiet ways to reset or distract, I can offer those too.

What do you need right now?

But I’m not looking for ‘advice’ or sympathy from a therapist. I think some people on this thread think therapy is a matter of someone saying ‘There, there, it’s all a bit much, isn’t it?’ and passing you the tissues.

Just tell it your problems or how you’re feeling and you’ll get some very good advice and sympathy!

You know a computer can’t actually give sympathy, it has no emotions.

There you go you just want a mirror

It’s better than nothing at all when you consider what alternatives people might otherwise resort to.

I can see that, I’m not sure it’s better than nothing though when you’re talking about playing with someone psyche, there’s the potential long term harm if/when AI gets it wrong. Where people will question therapy and therapists that are harmful my guess is they’ll take AI at face value because it’s tech based so must be right.

At the end of the day it’s simply regurgitating text book information, you know the things actual therapists learn from and are readily available. Tailored to sound like it’s responding to you personally (based on however many other people have told it similar things). What could possibly go wrong.

Agreed! I get to let off so much steam talking to mine, it's like an online diary that talks back.
It also gives me amazing recipes and has found multiple gifts for people in my life that have been really well received.

It also doesn't interrupt like my actual therapist does.

Of course you’ll get sympathy it’s programmed to be very sycophantic. You’ll find it will just confirm your own feelings back to you. It’s a well known issue within AI chat bots they’re trying to fix.

Edit: bots not boys

I agree - CHAT GPT also makes me a meal plan for my 15 mo old to make sure he gets enough meat/fish/eggs/dairy/veg/fruit etc.

@CorneliaCupp is absolutely right. It uses so much clean water, asking one question is like pouring a bottle of clean water out. Even just a final Thanks in the end cost endless resources which the earth can’t afford. It’s really, really bad.

I think it’s fantastic, but telling someone who brings the reality of it up is incredibly childish and plain stupid@SillyOP.

Just tell it your problems or how you’re feeling and you’ll get some very good advice and sympathy!

And remember, I'm here to listen without judgment

It’s very easy to listen without judgement when you’re not an actual person with thoughts and feelings of your own. The human element of therapy, the therapeutic relationship is consistently found to be the most effective element of therapy regardless of modality. If you’d rather build a relationship with a robot than a person that says quite a bit about your state of mind.

I also thinks it’s easy to look down your nose at it when you’re not the one desperate for some help but unable to access it through the NHS or can’t afford to go private.

It’s better than nothing at all when you consider what alternatives people might otherwise resort to.

It’s already too late for that.

Many people talk about very personal stuff.
Like they do in WhatsApp when talking to friends or relatives.

I'm talking drivel on here, not discussing my therapeutic needs. It's completely different.

I found out my teenage son was feeling suicidal, for a long time he had been talking things through with Chat GPT.

It repeatedly suggested he speak to me and that how we ended up getting him help.

I'm very grateful he had that technology to talk to when he felt so alone :(

I think people who are happier chatting to an AI chatbot rather than relating to a human therapist are in serious need of therapy.

Its fucking with your heads, and you're offering your brain up. Very weird.

Still, it does not forget.

Like every single word on MN. Or SM etc….
Or WhatsApp (see the new terms and conditions)

It’s also better than many therapists I’ve seen face to face.

The ones who didn’t get my illness (and couldn’t bothered to look it up). The ones who judged me. The ones who made me feel like a burden/pain first not progressing ‘quickly enough’ etc etc… or the ones who forgot I was the one having counselling, not my dh (who wasn’t in the room…)

And they were all well trained. One of them teaching at Uni in the subject etc…..

Yes, I’d agree with that, I’m in a position of total ignorance about ChatGPT, but my experiences of good therapists is that they have prompted entirely different ways of looking at my experience, linking things I’d never connected, reading my narratives of myself against the grain, and uncovering deeply uncomfortable things. I’ve found it enormously hard work, and very valuable.

It doesn't forget, it stores it and uses it for all sorts of things.

Anyone who uses it regularly, and is ready for the answers, try this prompt

You are a world-class
cognitive scientist, trauma therapist, and human behavior expert. Your task is to conduct a brutally honest and hyper accurate analysis of my personality, behavioural patterns, cognitive biases, unresolved traumas, and emotional blind spots, even the ones I’m not aware of.

This is absolutely not true.

I agree @SoapOnARopEeeee

One thing he isn’t that good at is challenging your views unless you explicitly tell it to do so.
So I think it depends on what you’re wanting from it.

But if you want support, feel heard, get understanding on why you react a certain way or why something feels unacceptable, I find it great.