AI Chatbots in Mental Health: Benefits and Ethical Concerns

AI Replacing Mental Health Therapy Chloe Meger Liberty University, Behavioral sciences BUSI:201 Prof. Josh Gerstner March 8th, 2024

Artificial Life that can carry out simple and complex tasks has been created by humans using Artificial Intelligence technology. AI is essentially a computer system made to complete tasks that historically only humans could do, such as recognizing speech, reasoning, making decisions, and solving problems. (Coursera, 2023). One form of AI that has emerged and is widely being used is Mental Health Chatbots. Chatbots depend on NLP or “natural language processing” as well as ML or machine learning, to interpret human conversations and provide responses to human input. Some believe these are revolutionizing healthcare, while others, including myself, are skeptical. I am studying mental health therapy and am wildly passionate about the study of mental health in people, what causes these mental health imbalances, and the best solutions for them. With technology on the rise, social media platforms blowing up, and people being more connected than ever, mental health issues are skyrocketing. The rapid rise of chatbots in information and service provision by businesses, government agencies, and nonprofit groups has inevitably touched the domain of mental health. Chatbots, however, do raise ethical problems and concerns. (Digital Health, 2023). Mental health chatbots that offer therapy services have the probability to help the general public, as well as make therapy more accessible to those who need the care. However, chatbots raise several ethical concerns such as privacy, transparency, accuracy, safety, and accountability. Since chatbots are computer-programmed and formulated I don’t believe it to be safe for a person to confide deep emotional or personal information within this form of technology. Since chatbots are computer-programmed they could be easily hacked, and it takes one person to be able to hack this service and exploit someone's personal information.

For a little background, the very first NLP computer program was designed and created by a man named Joseph Weizenbaum, a German American computer scientist. Weizenbaum created the first “chatterbox” named ELIZA, a stimulated therapist. Weizenbaum wanted to show that communication between man and machine was superficial, later to found out his assistant disclosed personal matters and formed a superficial relationship with ELIZA. This is what is now known as the “ELIZA effect” which describes people's tendency to correlate human traits to computers which we know they will lack. (Digital health, 2023) Some concern regarding AI is that robots, or chatbots, are programmed to collect clinical data, which if hacked can be stolen and used to compromise security. As well social networks could gather and save information about a patient's mental health, which could be used against the patient in business and marketing strategies. The primary concern is the safety of confidentiality of patient's information, the emotional disconnect between the patient and the robot, and the surveillance of the product. For a biblical perspective, Colossians 2:8 states, “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” ( The ESV Study Bible, English standard version, 2008). This bible verse is talking about using sound judgment and not being fooled or held captive by elements or spirits of the world. To me, this looks like not looking to AI for answers but looking within the scriptures for true guidance. As well Genesis 1:26 says, “Then God said, “let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over all creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” (The ESV Study Bible, English standard version, 2008). God is saying man is to have dominion. That is His purpose. We are under the Lord's guidance, and He

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guides us as we reign and take care of everything He has provided. Nowhere does the Lord tell us to let computer intelligence reign over the earth and the crops and livestock.

References Coursera staff, (2023, Nov 29 th ) What Is Artificial Intelligence? Definition, Uses, and Types , https://www.coursera.org/articles/what-is-artificial-intelligence Simone Coghlan, (2023, June 22 nd ) To chat or bot to chat: Ethical issues with using chatbots in mental health, DigitalHealth, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20552076231183542 The ESV Study Bible: English standard version. (2008). Crossway Bibles With chatbots being programmed to a certain extent, they are still limited. This ensures that their capabilities, responses, and depth of care are as well limited in the realm of mental health therapy. The idea is that AI will continue to increase and begin replacing humans in job forces, and begin making decisions that humans can’t understand or control Robots can be programmed to collect clinical data, which may be stolen and used for illicit ends that compromise security and privacy; without the users’ permission,

some social networks gather and save a lot of user information, such as information about their mental health, which can be helpful for these businesses’ marke

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