Is the introduction of an AI scribe a valuable tool in mental health care spaces?
A psych no longer clicks their pen and writes as you describe what’s troubling you.
No. They’re using AI.
My last two therapists informed me that they would be using an AI scribe tool to take notes for the sessions. Neither therapist ended up being the right fit.
AI is programmed. It is a centre of information, the axis of a multi-faceted brain. I am not naive enough in my distaste for AI to deny that it can be a valuable tool. On the contrary, I think that, when used appropriately — regardless of how you define ‘appropriate’ – it has the ability to be incredibly helpful.
However, in such a vulnerable, human environment, is asking permission from a client on whether they can use a tool that will feed and organise their trauma for them really going to allow them to feel they are in a safe space to share?
A psychologist is a licensed mental health professional who studies and regulates human behaviour and emotions. The notes AI is capable of taking are black and white. It regurgitates and feeds back the information a client has shared.
I am not a therapist myself, but from what I’ve gathered, therapists are supposed to observe and describe how and why a client reacts to information, and the way sharing certain experiences impacts their physicality, speech, or overall sense of self.
AI is not capable of reading between the lines.
Besides this, simply knowing you are being recorded while sharing deep personal history — or even a minor woe — is enough to make someone uncomfortable, potentially rendering a session redundant.
Marisa Cohen, a therapist in New York, says the dynamic of a therapy session is altered with the introduction of an AI scribe, even if the technology is not in line of sight.
“Even the presence of AI changes the therapeutic experience,” Cohen says. “Clients know or feel like something else is listening to them. That awareness can subtly alter their disclosure.”
Is the mental health care space really the right place to be using this tool, or will it ultimately strengthen psychological care in the future?
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