The use of artificial intelligence chatbots for mental health support among young people in the United States is growing rapidly. According to a survey by Harvard Medical School, the share of young people turning to AI for psychological help has increased by 60% over the past year, reports infohub.kz.
The study, led by Hao Yu, an assistant professor at the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, found that while a year ago one in eight respondents used neural networks, now nearly one in five (about 20%) receive psychological advice from AI. The survey involved 1,727 people aged 12 to 21. The results showed that girls and older teenagers are most likely to use the technology. At the same time, most respondents hide their use of AI from parents and doctors.
According to Hao Yu, chatbots help fill the shortage of specialists amid the growing mental health crisis in the United States. However, the scientist emphasizes the need to control the safety of recommendations generated by algorithms.