The AI Revolution: How Artificial Intelligence is Changing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

AI for cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has existed in a rudimentary form since the 1960s. Patients bond with sympathetic ears, even if those ears are chatbots that regurgitate pre-written responses. 

The overabundance of screen time rampant in modern culture impacts and exacerbates many mental health disorders. Demand strains therapists and doctors to the breaking point—many researchers have begun to consider AI as an alternative. New software advancements allow advanced technology to solve the problems it causes. 

Why Use Artificial Intelligence for CBT? 

Vulnerable people can become attached to people too fast, particularly people they can’t trust. AI provides a potential alternative. 

Without a physical body, an AI can’t physically harm the person using it. With built-in guidelines and safeguards, it can act as a sounding board or journal for people who need a sympathetic ear. 

A subscription service to a premium AI may cost less than therapy, even when not covered by insurance. Users don’t have to wait for an appointment to access an AI chatbot. Any place with an internet connection lets them log in to chat. 

Finally, AI can’t judge its users. It has no moral compass, which means the user can never shock, upset, or offend it. Therapists try to be objective, but they are only human.  

These statements are not speculation; history has already proven AI works for therapy. 

Proven History 

The precursor to modern Modern AI CBT appeared in 2017 with an app called “Woebot.” While it only copied and pasted pre-made responses, it proved popular and effective, and AI has grown more sophisticated since. 

The founders of the software company behind the application cite accessibility as a reason for their success. Patients access the application when needed rather than wait for a weekly or biweekly meeting. 

Cost and Convenience 

Only the very best therapists can give patients access to them any time they need. Medical professionals have personal lives and need sleep just as much as their patients. One out of every five people in the US faces at least one mental illness. The demand far surpasses the current supply of therapists and doctors. But a chatbot never needs to rest, and (barring a server outage) can help whenever the patient can access the internet. 

AI chatbots generate demand even as they meet it. They offer people who struggle to afford a therapist the opportunity to experiment. Some patients trust a machine that can’t judge them more than they would another person.  

Therapists don’t need to fear AI as a potential replacement. They can always use the convenient access to supplement their work. 

AI as a Therapy Tool 

Some people tout AI as a way to replace millions of jobs. Other more inventive developers look to AI to support existing experts. Once upon a time, artists and photographers expected Adobe Photoshop to replace them. In the same way, AI tools can help therapists gather information and optimize their limited time in person with clients.

Self-Assessments 

Patients can even benefit from AI before they begin treatment. AI chatbots give people concerned about their mental health a starting point and help them decide the treatment to seek. Most people know little or nothing about medical terminology. A chatbot can give curious readers the background information they need to search for a therapist who meets their needs. 

Diagnostic Aids 

Medicine that treats the physical body already uses AI for “medical images (e.g., X-rays, MRIs, ultrasounds, CT scans, and DXAs) and to assist healthcare providers in identifying and diagnosing diseases.” AI video calls could accomplish the same for mental health. 

A combination of written information (intake forms), voice recording analysis, and body language algorithms could pick up diagnostic information during initial appointments. They could also monitor patients between sessions and send an automated alert to therapists if the patient shows signs of danger.

Device Integrations 

Apps that “know” patient history can send push notifications reminding them to take medications and follow other best practices. Intelligent AIs can even iterate their approach. By learning patient patterns and responses, they can tailor their reminders and maximize effectiveness as they experiment.  

Improved Customer and Provider Experience 

Despite its altruistic overtones, healthcare is still a business. Many independent therapists have two options: handle vital administrative tasks themselves to save on costs, which reduces their patient time. Or, they can lose revenue to additional salaries. 

Small therapy offices can offload important but tedious clerical responsibilities to AI models: 

• Phone Calls 
• Appointment scheduling 
• Preseecrenings 
• Health education 
• Directions to offices 
• Reporting and progress 

Information gathered during brief chats with the AI collated into a single document, and sent to therapists before appointments could save time. Therapists and patients can focus on solutions during their short time together rather than summarize events since their last appointment. 

Risks of Using AI for Treatment 

No new technology is perfect out of the gate, and AI is no exception. Everyone in every industry should implement it with caution and approach it with healthy skepticism. 

The 2024 AI rollout explosion revealed as many potential problems as it did robust solutions. Some of its most significant perceived advantages—anonymity and freedom from bias—appear in AI just as in its human creators. 

AI Still Has Bias

AI can have potent biases at its core, and even advanced tech giants like Google aren’t immune. AI is only as good as the data used to train it. Reckless training could fill an AI’s data banks with outdated ideas about medical treatment or mental health and present them as up-to-date advice. Mental health evolves fast, and humans can keep up faster than programmers can update language models. 

AI Makes Things Up 

AI is not a human. Thus, it cannot make human judgments. But it can make mistakes or make things up, with real financial and human consequences. Major corporations have already found they must take responsibility for an AI’s errors, and such errors are unacceptable in medicine. 

AI Has Tech’s Weaknesses 

No technology has 100 percent uptime. Outages can remove access at any time and for any reason. The modern software industry, flush with venture capital and promising startups, can change at any time.

Patients who rely on applications that can go offline at any time risk losing a crucial part of their support network. Some couldn’t handle the loss of a digital “friend.”. The disappearance could feel uncomfortably like the death of an actual loved one. Developing a relationship with a new app could even remind them of replacing a real-life friend who passed away. 

AI Data Storage Could Risk Patient Data Security 

Everything that goes into or out of an AI becomes part of its training data. Many companies have policies that prevent this misuse, but not every company shares those ethical considerations. 

Even with careful safeguards, patients risk their privacy when they use AI. Apps must store their data on an external server for true digital portability, which could include protected health information. The security and maintenance costs to maintain HIPAA-compliant digital servers could lead unethical chatbot makers to cut corners, threatening patient privacy. 

Fortunately, quality human-run organizations like SoberMind Recovery don’t cut corners. 

AI May or May Not Be Ready—But SoberMind Recovery Is

With well-established individual and group therapy, SoberMind’s treatment programs offer the same benefits as AI chat partners and far more. The facility focuses on treatments for co-occurring diagnoses like anxiety and depression that often accompany substance use disorder. Members of vulnerable groups, like LGBTQ youth, will find a specialized treatment program here. 

Enjoy more blog articles to learn about the cutting edge of mental health resources. More updates are coming soon.