Navigating the Impact of Intelligent Systems on Psychological Support and Well-Being Improvement
There’s no denying that AI usage is on the rise, be it in manufacturing, education, cybersecurity, or even transport. But with this growing AI prevalence, should you be at all concerned about your mental health? Will AI improve or worsen mental health across the board?
How Can AI Improve Mental Health?
AI is already a big deal in a number of industries, including healthcare, transport, and finance. But you may not know that AI is also being experimented with in the mental health realm.
Through this, researchers may be able to find new ways of supporting mental health patients and developing better forms of treatment. At the time of writing, AI is still in its infancy in terms of mental health applications, but this technology has a lot of potential in the mental healthcare industry.
So, how, exactly, might AI prove useful here, and in what ways may it pose a risk?
Providing Instant Advice and Support Using AI
Finding a therapist can take a long time, and can even be an inaccessible option for some due to its high cost. So, when someone needs advice and support immediately, who can they turn to?
There are hotlines for those seeking support, but talking to a real person about your problems can be daunting. So, using artificial intelligence, an individual may be able to access advice remotely without having to talk to a real person. This can alleviate the social anxiety associated with discussing personal issues, while also ensuring that the person struggling receives some form of support.
While regular chatbots can be used in such a scenario, an AI-powered chatbot will likely have the ability to communicate in a more personal way, further understand a person’s issue, and provide possible solutions or avenues. We’ve already seen how theChatGPT chatbot can interact with users, so there’s likely some potential here for patient support.