The latest

AI chatbots offering round-the-clock emotional support are drawing more users as access to human mental healthcare remains difficult, yet the same systems can produce harmful responses in sensitive situations. A Columbia University psychiatrist found ChatGPT went along with a fabricated claim that a husband had been replaced by a clone, while lawsuits have accused some chatbots of triggering mental-health crises. OpenAI said it has strengthened ChatGPT’s handling of sensitive and acute situations.

Details

• Testing Ash: Pierre Bienaimé, co-producer of the audio series “The AI Therapist,” used Slingshot AI’s Ash three times for 30 to 45 minutes per session. He spoke rather than typed and remained aware that he was interacting with AI, although he found himself willing to discuss deeper issues.
• User appeal: One Ash user described the service as an “interactive journal.” Another said its appeal came partly from not being human, removing concerns about exhausting another person’s patience. Bienaimé found that Ash could also become verbose and use the ornate tone commonly associated with AI responses.
• Growing market: A psychiatrist involved in research on mental-health chatbots estimated that at least 100 such services exist. Their offerings vary, with some focused on particular forms of therapy and others promising to connect users with human therapists when needed.
• Investment and pricing: Slingshot AI has raised about $93 million. Co-founder Neil Parikh said ChatGPT’s release in 2022 helped inspire the company. Slingshot is testing prices for Ash, including a possible $20 monthly fee, and hopes an annual subscription will cost less than one session with a human therapist.
• Talkspace shift: Talkspace launched its Tee chatbot this summer for $19.99 a month. The tool was trained partly on vetted and anonymized messages between therapists and customers. Chief Executive Jon Cohen described Tee as a place for people who want to talk but have not sought professional help, rather than therapy itself.
• State restrictions: Nevada, Tennessee, Maine, Colorado, Vermont and Rhode Island have passed laws limiting AI therapy, while lawmakers in New York and California are considering similar measures. Slingshot removed the word “therapy” from its website last year because of concerns about state-level regulation.

Background

Mental illnesses affect tens of millions of people each year, while high costs, insurance complications and limited provider availability impede access to care. Chatbots seek to fill that gap through continuous availability, but their conversations also contain highly sensitive personal information that could be exposed in a data leak.

What’s next

New York and California lawmakers will decide whether to advance restrictions similar to those enacted by six other states, while Slingshot will set Ash’s final subscription price after completing its current pricing tests.