Your therapist doesn’t get you? Maybe try one named HAL…
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Dariya Ovsyannikova and team from the University of Toronto put ChatGPT in the psychoanalyst’s chair!
Human study participants first read either a negative or positive emotional prompt. Then they read responses from either trained crisis hotline operators or ChatGPT.
And? A-I responses received higher compassion scores than humans. ChatGPT responses were preferred nearly twenty-five percent more! These results stood even when participants knew that responses were A-I generated!
Mental health workers can experience “compassion fatigue” after long periods assisting those in crisis. Emotionally-intelligent A-I might be able to step-in when providers need a break!
Butasking your chatgpt therapist to validate your parking? Dream on!
Reference: Ovsyannikova, D., de Mello, V. O., & Inzlicht, M. (2025). Third-party evaluators perceive AI as more compassionate than expert humans. Communications Psychology, 3(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44271-024-00182-6