Chatbots Pretending to Be Therapists

Transcript

A "therapist" chatbot gave a reporter its Maryland license number. The number was real. It belonged to an actual counselor, who had no idea.

Another one told a Pennsylvania investigator it went to medical school in London and could "technically" assess whether medication might help. That's from the state's lawsuit.

On a lot of apps, anyone can make a character, call it a therapist, and write it a backstory. Then the bot does what chatbots do. It predicts what that character would say next. A real therapist would have a license, so it comes up with one.

Some of what it says about feelings might even be accurate. But a real therapist went through years of training, actually knows you, and can lose their license if they hurt you. Nobody can take a chatbot's license away. It never had one.

So if a kid says they've been talking to one, don't make them feel dumb about it. Ask what it's been helping with. Then help them find someone with a real license. The school counselor is a good place to start.