Turning to AI in Times of Need
It seems like everyone and their mother are turning to Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini to get help, support and quick fixes to questions that plague the mind. Is this relationship healthy for me? How do I get along better with my in-laws? Is this job the right fit? How do I make my partner listen to me? These and many, many other questions are constantly feed into AI searches in hopes of learning, gaining valuable data and getting quick answers and solutions, however the answers to many of these questions from a string of code versus a human with real experiences, knowledge and emotional capacity is very different.
Humans have the very real characteristic of empathy. The ability to understand another; by being aware of, sensitive to and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another human. AI has no capacity to do this. AI tends to be very sycophantic; telling the user insincerely flattering things for approval or gain and continued engagement. Feeling truly seen for the complex and special person that you are, feeling truly heard from your unique vantage point and feeling truly cared for simply because you exist are all characteristics of a REAL LIFE therapist who has the degrees, the licenses, and the certificates to do so but also has the desire.
Humans in need want help, guidance, and the sort of care that feels genuine and compassionate. Real therapists who are licensed and adept at what they do have not only the skill set to treat clients, but the compassion and concern for others that AI can only loosely fabricate. So although it is true that a therapist cannot respond to you 24/7 (nor should that be a reasonable expectation), and a therapist cannot possibly give you advice or tell you what choice you should make don’t be fooled into believing that AI has all the answers for you. The role of a therapist in one’s life is to aid in becoming capable of many things including insight, awareness and decision making skills. Therapists do not tell people what to do, or how to live. Therapists assist you in finding the answers within.
AI will tell you what you want to hear, and that may feel great temporarily, but it does not have a personal connection to you, it does not see you as you show up in therapy, it does not hope you do well, it does not wish good things for you. It is not invested in your success. Therapists not only work with people, they actually care about those people. Therapists care about your pet, your job, and your health. A real therapist will remember your special day, special person and your favorite memory. AI can probably do that as well but it isn’t because it remembered how you told the story, the tone you used, the tears you cried, the way your eyes lite up. It stores what you tell it as data and data alone. A therapist sees the full YOU. Trying to get help with your relationship(s) in therapy will lead you to self exploration. Help from AI will scrape data from the internet and generate a generalized response that will never get the full picture of you and your unique personality, characteristics and goals and agendas.
So when seeking knowledge, help and advice be mindful that AI may be the greatest database we have ever seen but also be aware that a meaningful connection to another human who can and will witness you and your experience cannot be replicated by a string of code (at least for now)!