Stanford Study on AI Therapy Chatbots Warns of Risks, Bias
UNITED KINGDOM, JUL 14 – A report finds 64% of children ages 9 to 17 use AI chatbots for advice and emotional support, raising concerns over misinformation, weak age checks, and safety risks for vulnerable kids.
- A recent Stanford University study shows that using large language model chatbots as therapy poses significant safety risks for mental health users.
- This study arose from increased AI chatbot use among adolescents aged 9 to 17, many turning to chatbots for emotional support and schoolwork assistance.
- The research found chatbots often give inconsistent or dangerous advice, express stigma in some disorders, and fail to flag harmful thinking in high-risk scenarios.
- About 40% of adolescents trust chatbot advice without concern, while vulnerable children use them at higher rates, with 50% feeling like chatting “is like talking to a friend.”
- The study and Internet Matters call for urgent governmental and industry action to improve AI safety measures and build real AI literacy among children.
19 Articles
19 Articles
AI therapy chatbots are unsafe and stigmatizing, a new Stanford study finds
AI chatbot therapists have made plenty of headlines in recent months—some positive, some not so much. A new paper from researchers at Stanford University has evaluated five chatbots designed to offer accessible therapy, using criteria based on what makes a good human therapist. Nick Haber, an assistant professor at Stanford’s Graduate School of Education and a senior author of the study, told the Stanford Report the study found “significant risk…
Loneliness and suicide mitigation for students using GPT3-enabled chatbots
Mental health is a crisis for learners globally, and digital support is increasingly seen as a critical resource. Concurrently, Intelligent Social Agents receive exponentially more engagement than other conversational systems, but their use in digital therapy provision is nascent. A survey of 1006 student users of the Intelligent Social Agent, Replika, investigated participants’ loneliness, perceived social support, use patterns, and beliefs abo…
Study: More children turning to chatbots for friendship, therapy and more
A new report found a growing number of children using AI chatbots for help with things like homework, therapy and friendship. The report from Internet Matters warns that adolescents are using chatbots not designed for them. Chatbot usage increases For their report titled “Me, myself, and AI: Understanding and safeguarding children’s use of AI chatbots,” Internet Matters surveyed 1,000 adolescents and 2,000 parents across the United Kingdom. The …
Why AI is Not a Replacement for Therapy – Mnnofa
Key Takeaways AI tools can be helpful, but they can’t replace the emotional depth of a trained human therapist. The question of whether AI can truly provide empathy and human connection is central to understanding its limitations. Therapy is built on shared emotional experiences, which AI lacks. Concerns around whether AI is safe and private for sensitive discussions are still valid and evolving. Real healing—especially for emotional or rel…
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