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Week 5: Digital Interventions

At-home activity: AI Therapy Demonstration

IN THIS LESSON

This section explores AI therapy and its potential as a scalable GMH intervention.

Complete the following readings:

  • How people use Claude for support, advice, and companionship - Anthropic (12 min)

    LINK

  • A Psychologist's Open-Minded First Take on AI Therapy | Psychology Today (5 min)

    LINK

  • My AI therapist got me through dark times - BBC News (5 min)

    LINK

Pre-Session Activity (30 minutes)

  • Download the popular AI therapy app, Ash. Have a short conversation with Ash (~10 minutes) as though you were using it for talk therapy to get a sense of its effectiveness.

  • Now, have a short conversation with an AI model (like Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini). Again, approach this conversation as though you were using it for talk therapy to get a sense of its effectiveness.

  • Write down any thoughts you have about how the conversations went. What do you think of the potential for AI to be used for therapeutic purposes in situations where someone doesn’t have access to human therapeutic help? What about if they do, could this provide a supplement or even a replacement in the near future?