Will AI improve or harm mental health?

There is no denying that the use of AI is on the rise, be it in manufacturing, education, cybersecurity or even transportation. But with the growing popularity of AI, should you worry about your mental health? Will AI improve or worsen users' mental health?

How can AI improve mental health?

AI is already a big deal in a number of industries, including healthcare, transportation, and finance. But you may not know that AI is also being tested in the mental health arena.

Through this, researchers can find new ways to support psychiatric patients and develop better forms of treatment. At the time of this writing, AI is still in its infancy in terms of mental health applications, but the technology has a lot of potential in the industry.

So how exactly is AI useful here?

Provide instant AI advice and support

Finding a therapist can take a long time and can even be an inaccessible option for some people due to the high cost. So when someone needs immediate advice and support, who can they turn to?

There are hotlines for people looking for support, but talking to a real person about your problems can make it hard to open up. So, using artificial intelligence, an individual can access advice remotely without having to talk to a real person. This can reduce anxiety associated with discussing personal issues, while also ensuring that the person struggling receives some form of support.

 

While conventional chatbots can be used in such a case, an AI powered chatbot will be capable of communicating in a personal way, better understanding one's problem and providing solutions. or possible path. We've already seen how ChatGPT chatbots can interact with users, so there could be some potential here to assist patients.

Monitor patient progress with AI

Monitoring a patient's progress is a very important step in the recovery process. While a real-life professional can do this well, the number of individuals in need of mental health support is too great, making it difficult for the existing staff to meet the demand.

This is where AI can help. Using this technology, a patient can provide input about how they are feeling and what they have done, and the AI ​​system can then evaluate the information provided to determine if there are any Is there any cause for concern? The AI ​​system can then alert stakeholders to take action. This can reduce the possibility of negligence and increase the number of people who are assessed regularly without the need for a specialist.

But there are risks to consider here, and the AI ​​system being used will have to be very well trained in how to spot possible warning signs. However, it is possible to use the information from the AI ​​system as an initial assessment, which is of great benefit to both the physician and the patient.

 

Developing new assistive techniques with AI

There's no denying that researchers are still working to better understand the human brain and why they lead to mental illnesses. Not only are the origins of mental illness still being studied, but techniques for how to better treat patients are also being developed.

For example, an AI system could take a bunch of data about a patient's symptoms, triggers, or background information, and then suggest new ways to help them make progress. This could be a hint about medication, type of therapy, or something like that.

On top of that, AI has been shown to be able to detect the presence of mental illnesses with a relatively high accuracy rate. A 2019 psychiatry report from IBM and the University of California states that, when testing AI in detecting mental illness, accuracy ranges from 62 to 92% (depending on the AI ​​system and data). training material is used). While the lower end of this range isn't terribly impressive, continued development could allow AI systems to achieve consistently high accuracy rates when it comes to detecting mental illness.

While all of this looks very promising, there are dangers associated with the use of AI in mental health and many other ways in which AI can worsen mental health. shared.

How can AI worsen mental health?

While AI has significant potential for improving mental health, there are also risks and dangers to adopting this fast-growing technology.

Increasing dependence on AI

Over the past few decades, the growth of smart technology has led many people to rely on phones, PCs, tablets and other devices to simplify and improve their lives. Whether they're chatting on social media, streaming movies, finding new clothes, or simply getting some work done, technology often plays a pivotal role. Many people are even addicted to smartphones or computers, which can have a huge impact on their lives.

So, as AI becomes prominent in many different industries, it can have an adverse effect on mental health. For instance, an individual may choose to use AI for education, work, entertainment, and other elements of their social life. On the contrary, this can lead to AI addiction. Today, there are already a lot of people addicted to social media, online shopping and online gaming, which often leads to feelings of anxiety and very real social and financial problems.

 

Lack of human contact

Humans are, by nature, social creatures. So it's often far more beneficial to discuss your feelings with others than to deal with them alone.

But if AI is increasingly used in the mental health industry, accessing face-to-face treatments, such as talk therapy, may become more difficult than it is now. If AI is used too often to replace human contact, the patient's recovery and progression rates may decrease as a result.

Currently, humans are considered to be much more effective in conducting therapy than machines and this may always be the case. This is why the adoption of AI in the mental health field needs to be regulated and monitored very carefully so that patients still receive the best care possible.

AI gives the wrong advice or solution

While AI is capable of some great things, it's also prone to mistakes. This is a big concern when AI is being entrusted with the care of human mental health. Misjudging someone's mental state, giving an ineffective treatment, or misinterpreting important data can be catastrophic for a patient, so there are key considerations to be made here. .

There's a lot that can go wrong when using AI, especially when it's in its early stages. System glitches, software bugs, and improper training can all lead to crashes, but malicious attacks are also potentially risky.