It's written by IWAI magazine journalist Toni Matthews-El and includes original reporting and interviews that have never been published before.

As the dad of an almost-12-year-old, this is especially close to my heart, since teens are often the ones most at risk when it comes to mental health – a trend that's probably exacerbated by social media and, at least in some cases, seems to be made even worse by AI 'companions.' There are some honestly gut-wrenching stories in Toni's new article.

At the same time, I see the value of less expensive therapy solutions – chatbots really are good at providing standard (non-crisis) cognitive behavioral therapy, since it's the kind of thing you can easily document (or, in the old days, learn from a book). And having an "infinite therapy sidekick" instead of paying $100+ an hour is clearly a win for a lot of situations.

I also want to warn you that this article discusses very difficult topics, including suicide, so proceed with caution. But if and when you have the time and space, I really encourage you to read the whole thing, because I think this is one of the most challenging (and thus most important) frontiers of AI for us all to deeply consider and understand.

Here's the direct link – it's public and free (no paywall) and I encourage you to read, share, reply with your thoughts, or spread the word to others.

– Rob
CEO of Innovating with AI