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Generative AI chatbots could take over our emotional lives: The potential and challenges of generative AI for health globally

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Since the release of ChatGPT in 2022, generative AI has immensely affected science and society, including the human mind.There are indications that Generative AI, that is 'general purpose chatbots' like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude, are now most used for emotional support and companionship, according to research of Harvard Business Review (Zao-Sanders, 2025).These chatbots presumably were originally designed for tasks such as summarizing information, assisting with translations, and inspiring ideas.Consequently, evidence is already emerging of suicides, psychosis, and sensitive per sonal data leaks.Un-regulated generative AI chatbots marketed specifically for therapy have also been released.On August 5th, Slingshot AI launched "the first AI designed for therapy, offering deeply personalized mental health support to anyone with a phone" (Healthcare IT Today, 2025).Although the company states that it was beta-tested with 50.000 users, the chatbot was not evaluated for benefits nor adverse effects in random ized controlled trials.As generative AI chatbots are becoming faster, more adaptive, increasingly autono mous (Gabriel et al., 2025), and widely available, there is a risk of increasing emotionaloverreliance.This might spark a public health crisis with wide societal consequences.Even the founders of companies like OpenAI warn that AI will become even more unpre

Source: Clinical Psychology in Europe

DOI: 10.32872/cpe.21467

Authors: Claudi Bockting, Athanasios V. Vasilakos, Caroline Figueroa