I think people are getting hung up on comparisons to a human therapist. A better comparison imo is to journaling. It’s something with low cost and low stakes that you can do on your own to help get your thoughts straight.
The benefit from that perspective is not so much in receiving an “answer” or empathy, but in getting thoughts and feelings out of your own head so that you can reflect on them more objectively. The AI is useful here because it requires a lot less activation energy than actual journaling.
The benefit from that perspective is not so much in receiving an “answer” or empathy, but in getting thoughts and feelings out of your own head so that you can reflect on them more objectively. The AI is useful here because it requires a lot less activation energy than actual journaling.