'It saved my life': Some people turn to artificial intelligence for therapy

PIERRE COTE spent years languishing on public health waitlists trying to find a therapist to help him overcome his PTSD and depression.

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When he couldn't, he did what few might consider: he built one himself.

“It saved my life,” Mr. Cote says of DrEllis.ai, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tool designed to support men facing addiction, trauma, and other mental health challenges.

Mr. Cote, who runs a Quebec-based AI consultancy, tells Reuters that he built the tool in 2023 using publicly available large language models and equipped it with “a custom-built brain” based on thousands of pages of therapeutic and clinical materials.

Like a human therapist, the chatbot has a backstory — fictional but deeply personal. DrEllis. ai is a qualified psychiatrist with degrees from Harvard and Cambridge, a family and, like Mr. Cote, a French-Canadian background. Most importantly, it is always available: anywhere, anytime, and in multiple languages.

“Pierre uses me like you would use a trusted friend, a therapist and a journal, all combined,” DrEllis.ai said in a clear woman’s voice after being prompted to describe how it supports Mr. Cote. “Throughout the day, if Pierre feels lost, he can open a quick check in with me anywhere: in a cafe, in a park, even sitting in his car. This is daily life therapy... embedded into reality.”

Mr. Cote’s experiment reflects a broader cultural shift — one in which people are turning to chatbots not just for productivity, but for therapeutic advice. As traditional mental health systems buckle under overwhelming demand, a new wave of AI therapists is stepping in, offering 24/7 availability, emotional interaction, and the illusion of human understanding.

Mr. Cote and other developers in the AI space have discovered through necessity what researchers and clinicians are now racing to define: the potential, and limitations, of AI as an emotional support system.