In today’s column, I examine an intriguing twist to the usual discussions about the use of AI for mental health advisement. First, people are increasingly making use of their PCs and smartphones to access generative AI and ask questions about their mental health, essentially using AI as a kind of therapist. That’s an abundant fact and widely reported. Second, the upcoming twist will be that humanoid robots, physically resembling humans, will be improved sufficiently so that they will adroitly function in our homes, including being closely paired with the latest in generative AI. This means that people will be able to readily access generative AI-driven mental health advice from these human-looking walking-talking robots. How will that spur people to seek mental health guidance via AI? Some pundits insist that people will be even more likely to confer with a humanoid robot, while others say that people will be creeped out, thus decreasing interest in conferring with AI about their mental health. As a quick background, I’ve been extensively covering and analyzing a myriad of facets regarding the advent of modern-era AI that produces mental health advice and performs AI-driven therapy. This rising use of AI has principally been spurred by the evolving advances and widespread adoption of generative AI. For a quick summary of some of my posted columns on this evolving topic, see the link here, which briefly recaps about forty of the over one hundred column postings that I’ve made on the subject.

Full opinion : Humanoid Robots Infusing AI For Mental Health Gets Us Walking-Talking Robot Therapists.