AI is Not a Counseling Substitute

AI can not replace humans

I have had several clients share how they tried AI for guidance, but did not necessarily like the solutions it came up with. I had one client follow what AI suggested when it came to setting a boundary — and her relationships got significantly worse. Make no mistake: we often encourage boundaries in counseling. However, there are many factors to consider — what the boundary is, how we establish it, and whether it is enforceable.

AI can be a great tool. It can be a quick and easy way to obtain a lot of information. However, it cannot replace counseling.

AI is designed to find information, but the information it finds is based on what you are looking for — not on your history, your personality, your birth order, your religious beliefs, your family system, or your socioeconomic status, to name just a few. There are so many factors that are important to take into account.

AI Tends to Tell You What You Want to Hear

Research has proven that AI will lean toward answering questions the way you want them answered — finding and framing information to match what you are already looking for. This phenomenon, known as sycophancy. Researchers found that AI systems will confirm users' mistaken beliefs, admit to errors they did not make, and provide answers tailored to users' existing views.

Counselors, by contrast, are trained to do what is clinically appropriate. That means we take scientific evidence, clinical history, thorough assessment, and the context of the individual's life into account — and we align recommendations with the client's morals and values.

AI Cannot Fully Relate to the Human Experience

AI is not human. It can access knowledge and attempt to incorporate emotional importance, but it is unable to identify the best solutions while taking the full picture of a person's life into account. AI cannot make psychoanalytical assessments. It cannot diagnose or treat. It simply cannot replace the human connection and clinical judgment that counseling provides.

AI just cannot replace humans.