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   Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) (emilymbender@dair-community.social)'s status on Sunday, 03-Mar-2024 07:30:52 JST Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)

   Arghh - more problematic reporting, this time about robo-therapists.

   https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/mar/02/can-ai-chatbot-therapists-do-better-than-the-real-thing

   A thread:
   /1

   • Embed this notice
     Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) (emilymbender@dair-community.social)'s status on Sunday, 03-Mar-2024 07:30:46 JST Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)

     in reply to

     What if -- instead of seeing the process of creating clinical documentation as mere busywork -- the tech bros understood it as possibly part of the process of care?

     What if -- instead of leading with the 'gee whiz AI' angle -- journalism in this space started with privacy harms, the fact that somehow tech companies get away with pretending healthcare regulation doesn't apply to them, and chatbots urging self-harm?

     /fin

   • Embed this notice
     Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) (emilymbender@dair-community.social)'s status on Sunday, 03-Mar-2024 07:30:47 JST Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)

     in reply to

     “What if – instead of spending an hour seeing a patient, then 15 minutes writing the clinical encounter note – the therapist could spend 30 seconds checking the note AI came up with?” YIKES

     This is a completely unrealistic expectation about what goes into verifying that kind of note and sounds like a recipe for overburdening the medical workforce/setting up errors.

     /6

     silverwizard repeated this.
   • Embed this notice
     Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) (emilymbender@dair-community.social)'s status on Sunday, 03-Mar-2024 07:30:48 JST Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)

     in reply to

     When the author finally gets around to reporting on what **actual psychologists** have to say, it's introduced with "What do old-school psychoanalysts and therapists make of their new 'colleagues'?"

     This frames the bots as human analogous ("colleagues", ugh) and the actual humans with the relevant expertise as behind-the-times ("old school").

     /5

   • Embed this notice
     Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) (emilymbender@dair-community.social)'s status on Sunday, 03-Mar-2024 07:30:49 JST Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)

     in reply to

     The only studies cited are co-authored by the companies selling this crap.

     One of the supposedly positive findings is that people form a "therapeutic alliance" with the bots within "just five days". Not sure how that is measured, but also what happens when the bot can't follow through on what a therapeutic alliance is supposed to be?

     /4

   • Embed this notice
     Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) (emilymbender@dair-community.social)'s status on Sunday, 03-Mar-2024 07:30:50 JST Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)

     in reply to

     They talk up the idea that this is effective because people are more willing to open up to a "bot" than a real person. BUT WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THAT DATA?

     (This finally comes up 1000 words further down the article.)

     /3

   • Embed this notice
     Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) (emilymbender@dair-community.social)'s status on Sunday, 03-Mar-2024 07:30:51 JST Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)

     in reply to

     For the first ~1500 words, exactly 0 people with expertise in psychotherapy are quoted.

     /2