AI and Our Mental Health: An Ongoing Series
Chatbots and AI agents are becoming ever-more entwined in our lives – and our individual and collective mental health. Every week, it seems, brings a new story of people using chatbots and becoming mentally unhinged as a result of the process. Dozens of cases have surfaced of people experiencing psychological crises linked to their use of chatbots, leading to numerous lawsuits.
Increasingly, chatbots are taking on the role traditionally played by human therapists. As psychiatrist and former NIMH Director Tom Insel notes, 2026 may be the year when more people use chatbots than human therapists. While this will dramatically expand people’s access to mental health interventions, it also has the potential to unleash all kinds of havoc — both predictable and completely unforeseen.
Today, we are launching an ongoing exploration of this brave new world by publishing a series of interviews and essays exploring the impact of AI on our mental health. We will continue to update this page, adding news stories as we go. To start with, we are sharing with you the following interviews and essays.
A growing number of people are forming connections to chatbots, using them like intimate partners or close friends. Replika founder Eugenia Kuyda, one of the few women leading an AI company, sees risks and benefits. Read the interview here.
The AI Self: Identity, Meaning, and the Emotional Cost of the Machine
Why we fear irrelevance more than unemployment, and why the “perfect” empathy of a machine might be the most dangerous thing of all. Read the essay here.
Are Chatbots Safe – and Are They Effective? The Former Head of the NIMH Weighs the Evidence
Instead of a mental health solution, chatbots may be something else entirely: the front door to the mental health system. The place people go first. The place that, if designed well, guides people toward the human or hybrid care they need. Read the essay here.
Can ChatGPT Be Your Therapist? This Therapist Found Out for Herself
As AI-driven mental health tools grow more popular, many are starting to wonder: Could ChatGPT offer a viable alternative to traditional therapy? In this first-person essay, a licensed therapist explores the question. Read the essay here.
The name “MindSite News” is used with the express permission of Mindsight Institute, an educational organization offering online learning and in-person workshops in the field of mental health and wellbeing. MindSite News and Mindsight Institute are separate, unaffiliated entities that are aligned in making science accessible and promoting mental health globally.
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