ADVERTISEMENTA growing number of people are turning to chatbots such as ChatGPT for support with their personal problems.
According to a Harvard report, the demand for AI tools in 2025 suggests a paradigm shift.
Previously, these tools were primarily used for technical purposes; however, as they have become more widely adopted, emotional support and personal development have garnered increased attention.
Rita Marcelino, an IT consultant, and João Aranha, a business development representative, are two young people who turn to ChatGPT for help when they face difficult situations.
Marcelino says she uses it «to combat some nervousness or to help me gain confidence before important moments such as a job interview, a presentation or even to structure thoughts when I feel more indecisive».
Aranha explains that the chatbot’s «immediate» availability is an advantage, as using it doesn’t require «an appointment».
«Like so many people of my generation, when I have a problem I want to solve it on the spot,» he adds.
Asked about the possibility of AI tools replacing psychotherapy, clinical psychologist Ana Rita Oliveira admits that chatbots can, in certain contexts, provide some kind of support in gathering information about managing emotions.
She notes, however, that «therapeutic techniques and strategies are accessible to everyone, they’re just a click away, but in psychotherapy, change is based on the relationship between the patient and the psychologist».
Although Marcelino and Aranha use ChatGPT to deal with some challenges, they both also have therapy sessions with a certified psychologist, and describe the two experiences as «completely different».
Aranha believes that the main difference is control, arguing that he is better able to control the «session» held with the chatbots.
«The outcome of the conversation with ChatGPT always depends on our input, i.e. we’re talking to someone who says and does what we want. A psychologist, on the other hand, has the ability to turn us round, cut off our train of thought and divert our attention whenever they want,» he says.
People turn to ChatGPT for health diagnoses
The increasing use of AI tools has led users, particularly young people, to self-diagnose.
Online self-diagnosis is not new. However, chatbots allow people to ask questions about symptoms, illnesses and treatments, with personalised answers given in seconds.
Oliveira, the psychologist, says some of her patients have arrived at their psychotherapy sessions convinced of their diagnosis, following online research they had done themselves.
«We have to know how to filter what we read. Reaching a diagnosis involves much more than a process of checking symptoms. It involves assessing various dimensions of the individual and this may require human contact,» she says.
Oliveira is sceptical of the role that AI can play in therapy, saying that the use of such tools «exclusively harms the therapeutic process for patients» and «can lead to the work of psychologists being discredited».
«I question whether this need for emotional support will ever be met purely through AI. If we have this need, it’s because we feel this lack in the relationships we establish in our lives,» she says.
