Therapy chatbots and emotional complexity: do therapy chatbots really empathise?

Internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy (iCBT) and, more specific, therapy chatbots are at the heart of this article. We review studies about therapy chatbots in terms of risks, benefits, and 'empathetic design'. Research shows that these chatbots can relieve symptoms of stress, depression, and anxiety, by tracking emotions over time, encouraging self-reflection, and helping to gain insight into cognitive biases, among other things. However, several studies focus on the short term, have limited samples, and include self-report. While there are certainly benefits, risks such as privacy, data security, and a lack of human oversight, cannot be ignored. The increasing use of LLMs like ChatGPT as 'AI…

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  HORIZON EUROPE Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions