ChatGPT as a Complementary Mental Health Resource: A Boon or a Bane

Ann Biomed Eng. 2024 May;52(5):1111-1114. doi: 10.1007/s10439-023-03326-7. Epub 2023 Jul 21.

Abstract

The launch of Open AI's chatbot, ChatGPT, has generated a lot of attention and discussion among professionals in several fields. Many concerns and challenges have been brought up by researchers from various fields, particularly in relation to the harm that using these tools for medical diagnosis and treatment recommendations can cause. In addition, it has been debated if ChatGPT is dependable, efficient, and helpful for clinicians and medical professionals. Therefore, in this study, we assess ChatGPT's effectiveness in providing mental health support, particularly for issues related to anxiety and depression, based on the chatbot's responses and cross-questioning. The findings indicate that there are significant inconsistencies and that ChatGPT's reliability is low in this specific domain. As a result, care must be used when using ChatGPT as a complementary mental health resource.

Keywords: Anxiety; Artificial intelligence; ChatGPT; Depression; Large language model; Mental health.

Publication types

  • Letter

MeSH terms

  • Anxiety*
  • Mental Health*
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Software