- ChatGPT Doesn’t Understand You (even if it feels like it does)
It’s not new news that younger people in particular are turning to AI as a an alternative or supplement to therapy. I could write an impassioned post about why it can’t be the former, and is at best about as useful as writing in a journal as the latter (which is to say, potentially useful for some people to help organise their thoughts). Instead of that impassioned post, here is an excellent article with a convincing argument that AI can not offer a substitute for conversation. The same logic could equally be used to explain why it is not a substitute for therapy.
As we exchange ideas, we build a world we temporarily co-exist in. At its best, this is a circle of playfulness that welcomes risk-taking and vulnerability. That can inspire us to be bold. Boldness requires connection and trust, built up over time, by testing our boldness and seeing that we’re still supported. These risks of communication help us discover how much of the world we can see, to learn how much we can change, and who might help us with the work.
I think all of this applies to therapy even more than it does to social conversation.
The argument, in very boiled down form, is that AI gives an illusion of mutuality without being mutual. Because you are not sharing your ideas with another mind, you are shielded from true vulnerability. And without vulnerability, there is no real self-discovery or growth.
And don’t get me started on the harms that AI can cause those in a vulnerable psychological state.
2. An Excavation of Guilt
Speaking of vulnerability, I enjoyed this thoughtful series on BBC Sounds. The presenter, Dave Anderson, failed to catch his girlfriend in a climbing accident which led to her being seriously injured.
I was interested in the disappointing experience of therapy he describes. He showed up with his enormous, barely bearable burden of guilt and was met with reassurance. But the reassurance didn’t work. Perhaps what he needed was an acknowledgement that his suffering and guilt were real, and help in making them mean something.
3. A Beautiful Book
I don’t think Stephen Grosz would have offered reassurance if Dave had gone to him for help. A psychoanalyst with decades of experience, Grosz is the author of The Examined Life and now a new book, Love’s Labour. Like his first book, this mainly consists of case studies where Grosz writes about his patients’ particular dilemmas and struggles in such a way that they read like short stories. (It’s important to note that Grosz obtained permission from his patients wherever possible before including their stories in the book and changed identifying details). Unlike TEL, in LL Grosz also writes about his own analysis and an experience from real life that taught him an important lesson about love and relationships. He writes with wisdom, humour and great tenderness. I devoured this book in two sittings and have already bought copies to give to people I love.
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