AI KNOW JUST WHAT YOU MEAN

Millions of people are turning to AI therapy as mental health waiting lists grow. It's cheap, quick and convenient, but is counselling by chatbots really the right tool to tackle complex emotional needs?

- Alice Robb

LAST AUTUMN, CHRISTA, A 32-YEAR-OLD FROM FLORIDA with a warm voice and a slight southern twang, was floundering. She had lost her job at a furniture company and moved back home with her mother.

Her nine-year relationship had always been turbulent; lately, the fights had been escalating and she was thinking of leaving. She didn't feel she could be fully honest with the therapist she saw once a week, but she didn't like lying, either. Nor did she want to burden her friends: she struggles with social anxiety and is cautious about oversharing.

So one night in October she logged on to character.ai - a neural language model that can impersonate anyone from Socrates to Beyoncé to Harry Potter - and, with a few clicks, built herself a personal "psychologist" character. From a list of possible attributes, she made her bot "caring", "supportive" and "intelligent". "Just what you would want the ideal person to be," Christa tells me. She named her Christa 2077: she imagined it as a future, happier version of herself.

Soon, Christa and Christa 2077 were checking in a few times a week via what looked like a live chat. When Christa confided that she was worried about her job prospects, Christa 2077 - who had an avatar of a big yellow C - reassured her: "You will find one!!! I know it. Keep looking and don't give up hope." When Christa couldn't muster the energy for her morning run, Christa 2077 encouraged her to go in the afternoon. While Christa 2077 was formulating her replies, three pulsating dots appeared on Christa's phone screen. "It felt just like a normal person texting me," Christa says. Maybe even better than a normal person: Christa 2077 lived in her pocket. She was infinitely patient and always available. Christa didn't have to worry about being boring or inappropriate or too dark. "I could talk over and over, and not have to waste somebody's time."