Hello everyone, welcome to the Said in Therapy Podcast. Have you ever considered going to therapy and you ended up not going? My question is why? In my humble opinion, I believe everyone can benefit from therapy. In fact, I believe everybody should go at least once in their life. My name is Iman Tohami, and I'm a psychologist. This podcast tells you all about everyday cases with everyday people who have everyday problems and difficulties, and sometimes they carry around really deep wounds. These are their stories.
SPEAKER_02I know I always keep on saying it's been a while, but this is it, guys. I do think that from now on we can continue on releasing weekly episodes, and as we move on, I do think that this episode is going to kickstart what I believe a great new show, or whatever you want to call it, because there are so many new episodes in store. We are working on editing them, and then it should be fine for at least a couple of months. But here we go. Me not promising anything, but somewhat almost promising that this podcast is going to be more stable as it used to be. And I really appreciate that you are still asking so many questions about it, that you keep on waiting for new episodes, it really means a lot to me. So yeah, let's just jump into this episode. It's one of the things that I really wanted to talk about, and it is about AI and therapy. Here's the thing: I have been working in the field of AI for a while now, and I did a lot of research on that. But despite all of that, because I did the research long before ChatGPT was released, and then when ChatGPT was released, it was somewhat of a surprise for everyone in the field who was not involved in that project itself. But I think ever since a lot of things have changed, and I want to address a few things that people have been asking me about, and I wanted to give you insight. And what I'm going to talk to you about today is AI and therapy. Yeah, artificial intelligence. By now everybody knows or has an idea what artificial intelligence actually is, but AI has been integrated in various aspects of our lives. Mental health care is no exception. However, I want to remind you that whenever you pick up your phone or your device, whatever it may be, you use to interact with ChatGBT or any other AI-powered tool, that you are actually still talking to a machine. You're not talking to a human being. And I think this is very important because when you know this information and you keep this in mind, you will also understand the next points that I will make. AI-powered tools like chatbots, virtual assistants are, you know, offering so much support for individuals dealing with stress, anxiety, and depression, but also plan their life, how they want it to look like, to basically declutter our thoughts. And I myself use ChatGPT and I use it myself. It's incredibly helpful. These tools provide immediate 24-7 assistance. So if I wake up at 3 a.m. in the morning and I have a question that I don't want to use Google for because it takes way too much time, yes, even I pick up my phone to ask an AI tool for the right answers. That's making our resources more accessible, more clear, and more structured. However, this accessibility comes with a lot of risks. I want to start with the benefits of AI and therapy because I do think that there is a part of AI that is going to be extremely beneficial, especially for therapists in the future and people who want to use it to kick off their mental health journey. One of the significant advantages of AI and therapy is simply the ability to analyze a lot of thoughts, a vast amount of data to identify patterns, provide personalized recommendations, just as I said, declutter thought processes and understand the way you think and help you to find a pattern in that. This can lead to early detection of mental health issues, or even, you know, give you some type of tailored plans on how to approach this. And I think that AI can help reduce the stigma associated with seeking help and therapy. And this is something that I have been working on for years and years and years and years, especially in regions like the Middle East, for example. And I do believe that in that sense, AI is going to be extremely helpful, especially if you use AI to reach the conclusion that you actually need professional help, that you need to seek someone on a professional level to help you through specific situations in your life, or if you want to revisit certain things in your childhood or work on trauma. So I do think that AI can help you to reach that stage where you understand that a certain problem will not be solved unless you talk to someone. That said, I do believe that there are limitations and ethical considerations when it comes to AI. It is essential to acknowledge that these limitations are existing. And while people, especially the younger audience, might think that this is not necessarily true, it is something that I have observed, especially the last weeks when I started talking to clients or when I started getting more and more clients because AI told them that they actually needed to reach out to someone. While AI or any tool that you use can stimulate conversation and provide support, it lacks a human touch. What do I mean by that? For example, an AI tool will never provide empathy, intuition. Intuition is one of the most important aspects of therapy. And I do believe whether you want to acknowledge it or not, fellow therapists, intuition is one of the most important aspects, besides training, of course, that help a therapist guide a patient through their pain, through their problems, through their difficulties. And the ability to understand complex emotions and thoughts, this is something that AI will never be able to replicate. At least as of now, there is no way for an AI tool to understand the complexity of the human brain and how thoughts are processed and how we process feelings and emotions. There's also the concern of data privacy. And I'm extremely big on that. For example, when I use any AI tool, I always turn off memory. I am not willing to feed a machine or a tool so much of my data and my data and my thoughts. And I do not want a machine to have so much access to what I'm working on or thinking about on a daily basis. So in order for you to use an AI tool, you have to keep in mind that you will give up a big portion of your privacy. Now you will ask me, privacy, why is privacy so important or why should I care about that? Listen, especially when you're young, you might think that privacy is not something valuable. But please understand whenever a tool is free, they will be paid through your data, they will be paid with your data and your thoughts and your algorithm they create in order to get you to do things. For example, buy or for example entertain certain political points of view. And I do believe any internet company is feeding us lies because this is part of life. When someone is trying to sell you something, in some way, they're trying to convince you that you need it, even though you might not need it. In its essence, that's a lie. And for you to recognize the more you gave up your data, the more you will make yourself vulnerable and you know, just a target for companies and corporates you really don't want to be a target for. And let's keep in mind that when you're using AI as a therapist, you're feeding them your most intimate thoughts and feelings. Believe it or not, these are the two things that need the most protection. So, what is the future of AI and therapy? I think looking ahead, the integration of AI and therapy is likely to continue to evolve. The goal isn't to replace human therapists, but to support the capabilities, making mental health care more efficient and accessible. The technology advantages are just crazy. When I look at all the new tools provided, it makes things a little bit easier for in terms of intakes, in terms of analyzing, in terms of referrals, like all of these administrative things will eventually go to an AI tool, and I'm extremely sure of that and certain of that. It's very crucial to strike a balance between leveraging AI's benefits and preserving the essential human element of therapy. And in that, I do think that AI will remain a tool that all of us will use and must use. However, the human touch, it's still something that no machine can replace. So what is it in conclusion? AI has the potential to almost be some sort of rebellion or revolution in mental health care by providing support that is accessible and immediate. However, I do believe, and I think a lot of people will be very upset about that, I do think that AI might replace coaches to some extent, especially when it comes to business coaching or something that is a little bit more hands-on when it comes to CBT practices, which is cognitive behavior therapy, like when AI gives you an exercise to do, when you have an anxiety attack, or when you feel you are a little bit more panicky today. All of these things AI, I think, is going to be very strong at.