#35: Will AI lead to the unbundling of therapy?

Hi friends,

Two weeks ago I wrote about psychedelics in mental health. Today, we’re discussing the role of AI.

I’m not sure why I thought it would be clever to write about two of the most controversial topics in mental health in the same month…

But yet, here we are…

AI is everywhere now and mental health is no exception.

Big platforms like Talkspace are launching AI products, startups are popping up every week, money is pouring into the space (Slingshot AI just raised $40m) and some companies are publishing very impressive results of their impact.

The general public are adopting AI at mind-blowing rates, with many using it for their mental health.

A lot of the solutions they’re using, however, weren’t designed to be used for that purpose at all.

Bots like the “psychologist” chatbot from Character.ai have zero clinical background but have been used tens of millions of times by people to try and address their mental health challenges.

AI holds massive potential to improve population mental health but there clearly a lot of challenges, and a of important questions to be answered;

• Can AI replace human therapy? Even if it can, should it?

• What is the right balance between humans and AI in mental healthcare?

• If the advancement of AI continues, what might a new world of therapy look like?

• What are the ethical and even philosophical implications of having an AI therapist?

• How should AI be regulated?

Big, BIG questions.

Over the last few months, I’ve been digging into this topic and doing a lot of research. In today’s THR Pro article, I’ll share some of my insights from this research and attempt to answer some of those big questions.

We’ll cover;

• The state of AI in mental health today

• The great therapy unbundling - why AI won’t replace therapists but what it will do instead

• What “Therapy 2.0” and “Therapy 3.0” might look like

• The impact and opportunities these changes create for mental health businesses

• Why AI might unlock new economic opportunities for therapists

• A deep-dive on whether AI can replace human therapy - a rapid literature review

• What my intuition tells me about the role AI should play in the world of mental health

Let’s get into it…

This article is for THR Pro members only