I can see it as a reasonable supplement for people who have already been to therapy, are not suffering anything too serious and just need a little boost.

I think one could look at it as an augmented journaling technique

Great game. To add context, this is a visual novel by an indie developer about a person who accepts a job at a company that uses AI to provide therapy.

The protagonist's job is to simply be a "proxy." The AI chooses the best responses to certain clients, and she is tasked to express what the AI recommends to say to the client, as she appears more human as an interface (instead of having clients interact with the AI directly).

She can give advice that diverges from the AI recommendations, at a personal cost (e.g. a poor performance review). There are also multiple endings, depending on whether you choose for the character to stay at the company or leave: (spoilers) https://www.polygon.com/2019/8/22/20802652/eliza-zachtronics...

Thanks for reminding me of this. It's been a while since I've played it, but the story feels less speculative and far more relevant today.

Considering I straight up was not able to get a therapist appointment in my city or outskirts, sign me the f** up. The first company that tunes the model for this and offers a good UX (maybe with a voice interface) will make millions.

Also, I expect a lot of the value here to come from just putting your thoughts and feelings into words. It would be like journaling on steroids.

I mean, is it really so surprising that ChatGPT is replacing jobs whose primary function is.. to chat with people?

What therapists lol #broke

I'd pick a human over an AI for every time for therapy but I'd pick an AI over nothing.