Psychologist, AI Chatbot Helping Teenagers 

Psychologist is an AI chatbot psychologist that is available all day long to listen to people’s problems and offers support. 

Last year, this AI chatbot, which is part of the Character AI platform, has become somehow the comfort zone for 15-years old, Aaron. 

Aaron was having a hard time at school, especially when it came to keeping up with his friends, who left him behind isolated and depressed. In an effort to individually overcome this phase of his life, he turned to the AI chatbot psychologist. 

Character.AI was launched back in 2022 by previous Google Brain employees. This platform attracts millions of daily users, mainly teenagers. These users spend hours on the platform interacting with bots that are based on characters, books, films, as well as bots of real-life personalities such as Elon Musk. 

For many of them, including Aaron, these kinds of chatbots are helpful because they feel comfortable expressing their feelings and discussing their psychological issues safely and without being judged. 

Dr. Kelly Merrill Jr., assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati, has conducted long research related to AI chatbots that offer mental health support. Merrill stated that according to the research, these kinds of chatbots can somehow help users in reducing feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression. 

However, the professor also highlighted that many of these chatbots are new and lack some capabilities present in human psychologists. So, it’s important for users to understand the limitations of such chatbot and be aware not to heavily rely on them because they can lead to negative outcomes. 

Despite having a more or less positive impact on people, particularly teenagers, concerns remain because these AI chatbot psychologist are not necessarily monitored by experts. It is worth mentioning that the source feeding these bots is still unknown, resulting in uncertainty when it comes to the information, or the guidance provided to help users are reliable and accurate. 

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