DSI Insights: AI in psychotherapy
In the latest column in the «DSI Insights» series, philosopher and ethicist Jana Sedlakova asks what role conversational artificial intelligence (AI) should play in mental health care—and makes a recommendation.
Conversational AI in psychotherapy: Aid, substitute, or fictional character?
Conversational AI, with its abilities to simulate human conversation, empathy and even aspects of a therapeutic relationship, is entering the space of mental healthcare and psychotherapy. It has the potential to increase the much-needed access to care. But what role should a technology designed to simulate humans have in the context of care? To what extent should it simulate human abilities and characteristics, particularly in such a vulnerable context as mental healthcare?
The author
Jana Sedlakova is a philosopher, ethicist, and postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Informatics at the University of Zurich. She heads the DSI Communities Ethics and Health of the Digital Society Initiative. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on the ethics of artificial intelligence and collaboration between humans and AI, particularly in the field of healthcare.
DSI Insights
In the «DSI Insights» series of columns, the DSI demonstrates its expertise and interdisciplinary approach to digital transformation topics since 2017. The columns by authors from the DSI Network appear in the «Inside IT» industry magazine and on the University of Zurich's communication channels. Here you can find all DSI Insights since 2017.