"I recently used AI to discuss this very topic, and it produced some solid points about our needs to "bear frustration" in life and in therapy. I did wonder if it gave me "answers" that I liked because it was affirming a bias detected in my question. In other words, it was building on and confirming positions that I already held and believed in, and therefore produced a result that was satisfactory to me."
"Its natural aims are to affirm, confirm, and resolve rather than to challenge, dispute, or contradict. Have you ever noticed how often ChatGPT responds to your prompt with an enthusiastic and ego-affirming comment like "Excellent question" or "That's a really important and unique insight!" In this way, AI does ego-work that we all instinctively respond to-we love being validated and affirmed."
A prospective client sought therapy after reaching the limits of conversations with ChatGPT, having used Chat as a companion and virtual "therapist" for reflecting on aggression and frustration. Generative AI can provide usable psychological techniques and theories about symptom origins and offer strategies for managing emotion. AI tends to affirm and confirm user perspectives, producing responses that validate biases and build on existing beliefs rather than challenging them. ChatGPT often gives ego-affirming replies that feel like recognition. This endless affirmation contrasts with therapeutic approaches that benefit from tolerance of doubt, uncertainty, and constructive challenge.
Read at Psychology Today
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