AI for Therapy: Yeah or Nay for College Students?

Today I had a meeting with a university counseling center. We discussed the current trends in the field and the challenges college students face today: political changes, an uncertain world, AI, uncertainty about the job market, and the job market changing due to AI. The counseling field, and especially the college counseling field, is changing. All of that creates anxiety, which does not mean something is wrong with them. Rather, it is a human response to what is happening in the world.

College counseling centers are struggling with funding. Not only that, some colleges, due to cuts, turn to AI chatbots like CBT tools or 24/7 lines that have providers, but the quality of this therapy is questionable.

College years are also known as a time of anxiety and vulnerability for mental health. Academic pressures, college loans, uncertainty, and being away from the family are all part of this time. Also, these challenges and hardships are doubled or tripled if we are talking about immigrant college students or first- and second-generation college students.

The university counselor also shared that they noticed a decline in inquiries for referrals as college students turn to AI rather than seeing a therapist.

So the question is: AI, yeah or nay, for college students?

When I think about AI, I think about the analogy of having knives in the kitchen. We can make a delicious meal using a knife, or we can hurt someone.

The same is true for AI. It can be used as a great tool or addition, but can AI be relied on as a substitution for therapy?

My answer is no.

AI does not require vulnerability and building a relationship.

The current generation of college students is already lonely enough. They went through COVID, online high school, and some classes in college they can take online. They already miss some social skills and opportunities that previous generations had.

So AI just continues reinforcing social isolation.

College years and young adulthood are a time for building identity.

Who am I?

Who am I in relationships?

Who am I in the world?

Who am I with my friends?

AI robs college students of some of these opportunities.

So can we really turn this into a question of whether AI is good or bad? AI is already a big part of our current reality, whether we want it or not. At the same time, it is not a replacement for human relationships, but rather an addition.