Does everyone need psychotherapy? While opinions differ on this matter, there is a general consensus that everyone could benefit from some good therapy one way or another. However, whether due to the high prices, the difficulty of finding the right therapist or the stigma about people who get mental help - only a small percentage of the population actually undergo psychological treatment. This could change dramatically when psychotherapy is done by computers. Sounds pretentious? It might be closer than you think.
The history of psychotherapy
While philosophers and thinkers have dealt with the human soul since the dawn of civilization, the history of psychology as a scientific field is quite short: In 1879 Wilhelm Wundt founded the first laboratory for psychological research, in 1896 Sigmund Freud invented psychoanalysis, and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) was only invented in the 1960s. As a relatively new science, psychotherapy is still constantly undergoing changes and revolutions.
Online therapy is one of the trends of our time. In this kind of psychotherapy, the treatment is done via the internet, using a variety of mediums, such as apps for texting, video chatting, voice messaging and audio messaging. Surprisingly, patients are not intimidated by the fact that they have never met their therapist in person, and online therapy is becoming very popular. With 500,000 registered users worldwide, Talkspace is currently the leading online therapy platform. It has just closed a $31 million financing round. Talkspace's platform allows members to easily find a therapist anywhere in the world, with relatively affordable rates - about $50 per session.
Prices and availability are not the only reasons for the rise of online therapy. Recent researches have shown that the outcomes of online therapy are at least equal to traditional one. When attending online therapy, the number of missed appointments is much lower than with in-person therapy. Furthermore, within a long-distance therapy, the client is more likely to feel less intimidated and to be more honest, thus allowing the therapist to provide better treatment.
In a world where communication is being done more and more via digital devices, the rise of online therapy is a natural stage. Moreover, it could be an important milestone in a much bigger revolution: If psychotherapy can be done with a therapist you have never met in person, could this therapist be a computer? In fact, artificial intelligence (AI) therapists already exist - and they are doing a pretty good job.
Woebot is a chat-bot, which was created by a team of Stanford psychologists and AI experts. It's a fully commercial AI therapist, which uses brief daily chat conversations, mood tracking, curated videos and word games, in order to help people manage mental health - for $39 a month.
Ellie is a much more complex AI psychotherapist, which was developed by the USC’s Institute for Creative Technologies. Its goal is to treat people with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A webcam and microphone allow it to observe the patient, and by analyzing 66 points on the patient’s face, it can read their current facial expression. Furthermore, a Kinect sensor allows it to look at body posture, head nods, eye shifts and other visual cues.
How does it work?
In order to better understand how it is possible for a computer to function as a psychotherapist, it's important to understand that psychotherapy consists of a series of scientifically validated procedures from several different approaches. Some of them, like CBT, are extremely technical and allow the therapist to act in a very structured way. Other psychotherapy approaches may require the therapist to have more of a "human touch", but apparently soon this won't be a barrier either.
The academy award-winning movie Her, from 2013, presented a futuristic world, in which artificial intelligence programs communicate with people as if they were a real people themselves. In reality, this technology is almost here. In 2014 a computer software named Eugene Goostman almost passed the Turing test by convincing 33% of the contest's judges that it was human.
This is only the tip of the iceberg. While Goggle and Apple constantly struggle to improve the natural language processing (NLP) abilities of their operating systems, and giving them a more human touch, the road to human-like AI psychotherapist, that can fully understand and communicate with us as though is was human, is getting shorter.
A real game changer
AI therapy is going to completely change our life. Future generations will live in a world where a personal AI psychologist, that knows everything about you, will be available 24/7 and could advise instantly in real time. Communication will be done seamlessly via mind reading, so no one will really know who is using this function. Whether it's a date or a job interview - your therapist can be there with you.
The computer therapist could do much more than a human one. It is unbiased, it won't judge you and will always be strictly objective. Its memory capabilities are superior to humans, and it will never forget anything about you. Furthermore, members within a futuristic network of AI therapists could exchange information with each-other, in order to get a better perspective on situations that involve several individuals. This could be an effective tool for many types of couple, group and family therapy.
Who will pay for it?
The economic aspect of the AI therapist is no less interesting than its scientific aspect. When it comes to funding of this futuristic service there are three main different options that have great influence on it:
Direct fee - The trivial option is that this service will require some monthly fee from the user - like the fee that Woebot charges today. Within time, prices will fall and psychotherapy will become much more affordable than it is today.
Advertising - Like many other online services, there is a good chance that the service will be granted for free, and the developers' income will come from advertising. Either from direct influence on the patient to consume a service or a product, or from selling information about the user - there is definitely a lot of money to be made in this business.
Government funding - There is also an interesting option that this service will be funded by the government. Providing a personal AI therapist for every civilian can be beneficial for society in several aspects: improving the mental and general health of people, reducing crime and promoting productivity in general.
The problematic potential
One of the interesting questions regarding the AI psychotherapy will be the entity that will develop it, and its values. Unlike physics or chemistry, psychology is not an exact science, thus it's subject to interpretation. Whenever the computer will try to maximize its patient benefit or happiness, the definition of "benefit" or "happiness" will be determined by the way the computer was programmed.
Here lies the problematic potential of this development. The huge influence that the AI psychotherapist will have on people could lead to the creation of a sophisticated modern version of dictatorship, as people will be led by the AI, and indirectly by the one who developed it. Even if we assume that no one has bad intentions, an examination of the history of mankind will reveal that different interpretations of what will bring "benefit" for people, have eventually led for many wars and suffering.
In conclusion
Homo sapiens and technology always went together. From cutting stones and making fire, to driving cars and using computers - humans are constantly looking for new ways to make their life easier and more fulfilling.
In the near future artificial intelligence is going to be much more present in our life. Computers probably won't start a war against us, as some science fiction movies have predicted, but they will have a great influence on the way we see the world and on our decision making. It is an inevitable path that is going to lead us into a very different and unknown future. It could be for the better or for the worse, but at least we will all have a personal psychotherapist that could help us through it.