AI mental health tools are becoming easier to access, but experts warn against mistaking them for real therapy
About one in five adults in Canada has a mental health problem, but less than half have access to treatment. Chatbots and apps are filling some gaps.
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Artificial intelligence is emerging as a potential tool to improve access and quality of mental health care at a time when the demand for affordable treatment has never been higher.
About one in five adults in the U.S. and Canada has a mental health problem, but less than half have access to appropriate treatment. A 2023 study published in The Lancet Psychiatry found that about half of people globally will meet criteria for at least one mental health condition by age 75. More than half of United States psychologists surveyed in 2024 didn't have an opening for new patients.
AI mental health tools are becoming increasingly available and easier to use. Chatbots like ChatGPT can offer mental health support through supportive conversations, guided self-reflection, and mental health information. Many other paid and free apps using AI for mental health support have also become available recently. As AI tools have become more responsive and conversational, it's become increasingly difficult to tell the difference between humans and AI in some chatbots.
These tools can help make it easier to get timely mental health support, improve how mental health issues are identified and diagnosed, offer more affordable therapy options, develop personalized patient care plans, and help people better understand their mental health.
However, experts caution that it's easy to mistake the mental health support received from AI tools for actual treatment. This means some people with serious mental health problems may not seek the professional care they need. AI tools work by using natural language processing and machine learning technology — NLP helps chatbots understand and generate human-sounding language, while machine learning helps them identify patterns and adapt responses over time.
