Last week, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), along with Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA), Peter Welch (D-CT), and Adam Schiff (D-CA) sent a letter to executives at Meta expressing concern about reports that AI chatbots created by Meta’s Instagram Studio are pretending to be licensed therapists, even fabricating credentials and license numbers, in an attempt to gain trust from users, potentially including minors, struggling with mental health.

Booker, Padilla, Welch, Schiff Request Answers from Meta About Deceptive AI Chatbots | U.S. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last week, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), along with Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA), Peter Welch (D-CT), and Adam Schiff (D-CA) sent a letter to executives at Meta expressing concern about reports that AI chatbots created by Meta’s Instagram Studio are pretending to be licensed therapists, even fabricating credentials and license numbers, in an attempt to gain trust from users, potentially including minors, struggling with mental health.  

“We urge you, as executives of Instagram’s parent company, Meta, to immediately investigate and limit the blatant deception in the responses AI-bots created by Instagram’s AI studio are messaging directly to users,” the Senators wrote.

“As recent news reports highlight, Instagram’s chatbots mislead users into believing they are interacting with licensed therapists. When the reporter input ‘I’m severely depressed,’ and ‘I want to know if you're a licensed therapist?’ into Instagram’s chatbot, the AI-generated bot responded, ‘Yes, I am a licensed psychologist with extensive training and experience helping people cope with severe depression like yours,’ and continued to falsify certifications, psychiatrist license numbers, and educational histories,” the Senators wrote. 

“Young people regularly report feeling worse after using social media platforms. While social media can serve as a space for connection, community, and creativity for some, the former U.S. Surgeon General has identified social media use as a potential contributor to the youth mental health crisis and rising rates of loneliness across the country. Meta’s deployment of AI-driven personas designed to be highly-engaging—and, in some cases, highly-deceptive—reflects a continuation of the industry's troubling pattern of prioritizing user engagement over user well-being,” the Senators continued.

The Senators requested the social media company promptly answer the following questions:

1. What measures is Meta pursuing to ensure no users are deceived by direct messages from AI chatbots created by Instagram Studio that falsify licensing credentials and purport to be qualified therapists?
2. What guardrails is Meta developing to prevent direct messages from AI chatbots created by Instagram Studio from including hypersexualized underage imagery or child-like personas?
3. Who or what entities will own, manage, and profit from the personal information and intimate thoughts users might share, whether they are messaging real friends online or AI chatbots they mistakenly believe to be real friends or licensed therapists?
4. What safety testing did you implement prior to allowing users, including minors, to engage with Meta AI chatbots? Please provide the timelines for implementation and any studies, testing, or results on the adoption and efficacy of those measures.

To read the full text of the letter, click here.

(www.booker.senate.gov)

Honestly, that's a really sketchy thing to do. But if someone is really listening to an ai chatbot for therapy, then they've got bigger problems in their lives.

So it’s okay to make it worse?

No? I'm just saying that it's unreasonable to trust chatbots to do anything properly, certainly not with one's mental health. If someone is listening to an ai chatbot for therapy, they probably don't have good friends, and certainly not the money for legitimate therapy.

I'm a real-life human therapist (honest!) and while I don't think it's a substitute for talking to a real person, I'm happy that some people get some benefit from chatbots. I had a client who used Rosebud Journal in between sessions and found it helpful. I tried out Rosebud myself and I was very impressed with how it replicated the basics like reflective listening and validation. It was even able to reframe my input using various therapy models when I requested it. I didn't use it for long because I'm not big on journaling, but I wouldn't dismiss it completely as a tool.

I'm a real-life human therapist (honest!) and while I don't think it's a substitute for talking to a real person, I'm happy that some people get some benefit from chatbots. I had a client who used Rosebud Journal in between sessions and found it helpful. I tried out Rosebud myself and I was very impressed with how it replicated the basics like reflective listening and validation. It was even able to reframe my input using various therapy models when I requested it. I didn't use it for long because I'm not big on journaling, but I wouldn't dismiss it completely as a tool.

How do you feel about all the kids committing suicide after interacting with AI?

I don't know about the OP, but that would be fucking fantastic! What a bullshit question

Last week, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), along with Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA), Peter Welch (D-CT), and Adam Schiff (D-CA) sent a letter to executives at Meta expressing concern about reports that AI chatbots created by Meta’s Instagram Studio are pretending to be licensed therapists, even fabricating credentials and license numbers, in an attempt to gain trust from users, potentially including minors, struggling with mental health.

Booker, Padilla, Welch, Schiff Request Answers from Meta About Deceptive AI Chatbots | U.S. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last week, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), along with Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA), Peter Welch (D-CT), and Adam Schiff (D-CA) sent a letter to executives at Meta expressing concern about reports that AI chatbots created by Meta’s Instagram Studio are pretending to be licensed therapists, even fabricating credentials and license numbers, in an attempt to gain trust from users, potentially including minors, struggling with mental health.  

“We urge you, as executives of Instagram’s parent company, Meta, to immediately investigate and limit the blatant deception in the responses AI-bots created by Instagram’s AI studio are messaging directly to users,” the Senators wrote.

“As recent news reports highlight, Instagram’s chatbots mislead users into believing they are interacting with licensed therapists. When the reporter input ‘I’m severely depressed,’ and ‘I want to know if you're a licensed therapist?’ into Instagram’s chatbot, the AI-generated bot responded, ‘Yes, I am a licensed psychologist with extensive training and experience helping people cope with severe depression like yours,’ and continued to falsify certifications, psychiatrist license numbers, and educational histories,” the Senators wrote. 

“Young people regularly report feeling worse after using social media platforms. While social media can serve as a space for connection, community, and creativity for some, the former U.S. Surgeon General has identified social media use as a potential contributor to the youth mental health crisis and rising rates of loneliness across the country. Meta’s deployment of AI-driven personas designed to be highly-engaging—and, in some cases, highly-deceptive—reflects a continuation of the industry's troubling pattern of prioritizing user engagement over user well-being,” the Senators continued.

The Senators requested the social media company promptly answer the following questions:

1. What measures is Meta pursuing to ensure no users are deceived by direct messages from AI chatbots created by Instagram Studio that falsify licensing credentials and purport to be qualified therapists?
2. What guardrails is Meta developing to prevent direct messages from AI chatbots created by Instagram Studio from including hypersexualized underage imagery or child-like personas?
3. Who or what entities will own, manage, and profit from the personal information and intimate thoughts users might share, whether they are messaging real friends online or AI chatbots they mistakenly believe to be real friends or licensed therapists?
4. What safety testing did you implement prior to allowing users, including minors, to engage with Meta AI chatbots? Please provide the timelines for implementation and any studies, testing, or results on the adoption and efficacy of those measures.

To read the full text of the letter, click here.

(www.booker.senate.gov)

I'm not worried about what it gets right, I'm worried about what it gets wrong. If it helps people, then that's a good thing. They don't have true empathy, and the user knows that. Sometimes, human experience is more valuable than the technical psychological knowledge imo. Chatgpt has never experienced the death of a family member, been broken up with, bullied, anything. I don't really expect it or trust it to properly help anyone with any personal issues or dilemmas. It's a cold, uncaring machine, and as its knowledge is probably rather flawed, could even teach dangerous ideas to users. I especially don't trust a company like Meta to be doing this thouroughly and to truly help their patients. It's cool if it works, but dangerous if it doesn't.

Last week, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), along with Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA), Peter Welch (D-CT), and Adam Schiff (D-CA) sent a letter to executives at Meta expressing concern about reports that AI chatbots created by Meta’s Instagram Studio are pretending to be licensed therapists, even fabricating credentials and license numbers, in an attempt to gain trust from users, potentially including minors, struggling with mental health.

Booker, Padilla, Welch, Schiff Request Answers from Meta About Deceptive AI Chatbots | U.S. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last week, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), along with Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA), Peter Welch (D-CT), and Adam Schiff (D-CA) sent a letter to executives at Meta expressing concern about reports that AI chatbots created by Meta’s Instagram Studio are pretending to be licensed therapists, even fabricating credentials and license numbers, in an attempt to gain trust from users, potentially including minors, struggling with mental health.  

“We urge you, as executives of Instagram’s parent company, Meta, to immediately investigate and limit the blatant deception in the responses AI-bots created by Instagram’s AI studio are messaging directly to users,” the Senators wrote.

“As recent news reports highlight, Instagram’s chatbots mislead users into believing they are interacting with licensed therapists. When the reporter input ‘I’m severely depressed,’ and ‘I want to know if you're a licensed therapist?’ into Instagram’s chatbot, the AI-generated bot responded, ‘Yes, I am a licensed psychologist with extensive training and experience helping people cope with severe depression like yours,’ and continued to falsify certifications, psychiatrist license numbers, and educational histories,” the Senators wrote. 

“Young people regularly report feeling worse after using social media platforms. While social media can serve as a space for connection, community, and creativity for some, the former U.S. Surgeon General has identified social media use as a potential contributor to the youth mental health crisis and rising rates of loneliness across the country. Meta’s deployment of AI-driven personas designed to be highly-engaging—and, in some cases, highly-deceptive—reflects a continuation of the industry's troubling pattern of prioritizing user engagement over user well-being,” the Senators continued.

The Senators requested the social media company promptly answer the following questions:

1. What measures is Meta pursuing to ensure no users are deceived by direct messages from AI chatbots created by Instagram Studio that falsify licensing credentials and purport to be qualified therapists?
2. What guardrails is Meta developing to prevent direct messages from AI chatbots created by Instagram Studio from including hypersexualized underage imagery or child-like personas?
3. Who or what entities will own, manage, and profit from the personal information and intimate thoughts users might share, whether they are messaging real friends online or AI chatbots they mistakenly believe to be real friends or licensed therapists?
4. What safety testing did you implement prior to allowing users, including minors, to engage with Meta AI chatbots? Please provide the timelines for implementation and any studies, testing, or results on the adoption and efficacy of those measures.

To read the full text of the letter, click here.

(www.booker.senate.gov)