Well yeah, and it looks like one of my friends went even more crazy because his desires were supported by AI, and on top of that he became some kind of weird and suspicious guy, it's creepy.

So we know that in certain cases, using chatbots as a substitute for therapy can lead to increased suffering, increases risk of harm to self and others, and amplifies symptoms of certain diagnosis. Does this mean we know it couldn't be helpful in certain cases? No. You ingested the exact same logic corpos have with LLMs, which is "just throw it at everything", and you seem to not notice you apply it the same way they do.

We might have enough data at some point to assess what kinds of people could benefit from "chatbot therapy" or something along those lines. Don't get me wrong, I'd prefer we could provide more and better therapy/healthcare in general to people, and that we had less systemic issues for which therapy is just a bandage.

it's worse than nothing

Yes, in total. But not necessarily in particular. That's a big difference.

Thank you. There's the cost, I can't find a therapist for $40 a session, but even that would be prohibitively expensive. But people never talk about how Therapy in capitalist society is just a cash cow business, and the easiest most profitable methods are widespread. Most therapists, or presumably the experts being quoted on the dangers of talking to a language model, are ineffective for most people.

I'm fairly confident that this could be solved by better trained and configured chatbots. Maybe as a supplementary device between in-person therapy sessions, too.

I'm also very confident that there'll be lot of harm done until we get to that point. And probably after (for the sake of maximizing profits) unless there's a ton of regulation and oversight.

I'm not sure LLMs can do this. The reason is context poisoning. There would need to be an overseer system of some kind.

If you have a drink that creates a nice tingling sensation in some people and make other people go crazy, the only sane thing to do is to take that drink off the market.

In a way it's similar to pseudoscientific alternative therapies people will say it's awesome and no problem since it helps people, but since it's based on nothing it actually gives people fake memories and can acerbate disorders

Yeah but that applies to social media as well. Or, idk, amphetamine. Or fucking weed. Even meditation. Which are all still there, some more regulated than others. But that's not what you're getting at, your point is AI chatbots = bad and I just don't agree with that.

Honestly, attempting something impossible might be a better use of one's time than feeding into the AI hysteria. LLMs don't think, they don't know, or understand. They just match patterns, and that's the one thing they're good for.

If you need human connection, you won't get that with an LLM. If you need a therapist, you certainly won't get that with an LLM.

LLMs are not effective therapists, because they're not therapists. They cannot treat anyone.

This is what happens when mental healthcare is not accessible to people.