Society · AI
Could artificial intelligence one day replace therapists?
For a few decades now, science-fiction writers have delighted in imagining how artificial intelligence might get the upper hand over humanity. In recent years, our reality has been drawing ever closer to that fiction — and at the time this post was written, in January 2023, the question was being asked more seriously than ever.
When fiction meets reality
Is artificial intelligence about to replace the majority of the professions we know today? Could it even replace the ones we would have thought forever irreplaceable by a computer: the professions of human relationship?
If you follow the news a little, you have probably heard of — or even already tried — the artificial intelligence called GPT-3 and one of its offshoots, ChatGPT, produced by OpenAI, the company co-founded notably by Elon Musk and Sam Altman.
GPT-3 is a tool you can ask to answer any question you like: to write an article, a video script, a presentation, a cover letter, an essay… absolutely anything you wish. Not only does it write what you ask for, it does so in a unique way.
Building on GPT-3, OpenAI had just released, amid a great upheaval, ChatGPT: a conversational interface that is literally stunning, almost frightening. It is an (artificial) person that can talk with you for hours. The crazy part is the conversation history: it does not start over from scratch at every interaction — it builds a relationship through each exchange.
A virtual therapist-assistant?
At first, we might see the emergence of a virtual therapist-assistant: a robot that sees everything and whispers hypotheses, therapeutic leads, targeted questions according to this or that approach. A machine that decodes and interprets non-verbal language and facial micro-expressions, that records and analyses every therapeutic conversation and that — unlike human beings — forgets nothing.
We are indeed talking about machines capable of learning, that is, of taking their mistakes into account so as never to repeat them, where we are eminently inconstant.
Imagine a world in which, little by little, psychologists would become mere data collectors for the algorithms, until an artificial intelligence therapist is born — the first of its name.
The made-to-measure therapist
In an increasingly consumerist society, we look for the miracle method, the perfect tool — and here we would have access to a specialist in every approach, every school. A family therapist able to see and analyse everything, to speak every language, to adapt to people's accents, to their register, to pick up their expressions. We could even order a certain personality style: more or less interventionist, more active or more withdrawn.
We are already seeing text therapy flourish online — therapy by messaging, which gives you access to a therapist almost 7 days a week. What will happen when it is AIs on the other side, able to answer instantly, 24 hours a day?
So, replaceable?
Will AI replace therapists in the future? I turn the question back to you…
My conviction
What makes a therapy succeed is the quality of the relationship woven between two human beings, with everything about it that is imperfect, wobbly, paradoxical, irrational and poetic.
In the frantic race for performance and productivity, I believe we will unfortunately need therapy more and more — deep, authentic relationships, and a turn towards what is most essential in us and what still defines us: our capacity to love and our need to feel it.
Archive note
This post was written in January 2023, a few weeks after the public release of ChatGPT. The question has only grown more topical since: it is carried further in Psys and AI: the next great divide in psychological care and in What will tomorrow's therapy look like?
The full reflection, as I laid it out at the time, is in the video below — in French.
How to cite this article
Besse, J. (2023, January 15). Could artificial intelligence one day replace therapists?. Complexe Systémique. https://app.complexe-systemique.com/en_GB/articles/could-artificial-intelligence-one-day-replace-therapists
To go further
- Therapists and AI: the next great fracture in psychological careThree years on, the question raised here has become a dividing line within the profession itself.
- What will tomorrow's therapy look like?When the office, the session and the therapist themselves step out of the classic setting.
- The extraordinary power of empathyThe therapist's most precious ally remains, for now, profoundly human.
- 5 therapist mistakes to avoidHuman inconstancy has its virtues: what our therapist mistakes teach us.
Related training courses
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Digital technology, AI and mental health
Conference in Lyon, 11 December 2026: digital technology, artificial intelligence and mental health. Six talks, replay for participants. In French.
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Training in Systemic Therapy and Interventions – Cycle 1
Certifying training cycle in systemic therapy and interventions – year 1. Courses, supervision and practice, aligned with EFTA/SFTF. In French.
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Training in Systemic Therapy and Interventions – Cycle 2
Certifying training cycle in systemic therapy and interventions – year 2. Clinical complexity, supervision and practice. EFTA/SFTF aligned. In French.
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Training in Systemic Therapy and Interventions – Cycle 3
Certifying training cycle in systemic therapy and interventions – year 3. In-depth intervention, supervision and practice. EFTA/SFTF aligned. In French.
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