AI personas shape synthetic mental health therapists and the future of psychotherapy

Forbes describes how generative AI and LLM personas can be prompted to simulate a range of therapists for training, research and client interactions. The piece notes practical uses and cautions, including possible prompt drift and AI hallucinations.

Modern generative AI and large language models can be instructed to adopt personas that simulate different kinds of therapists. Those personas range from shallow defaults to richer, more fully specified therapist profiles depending on the prompt used. Common uses include practicing clinical skills, training new therapists, running research experiments, and providing AI-assisted interactions with clients. The author emphasizes both utility and caution, noting that AI can deviate from prompts and produce confabulations. Key points: - Popular LLMs include persona features that let users request specific therapist styles or levels of experience. - Detailed prompts (or RAG augmentation) can produce more consistent, fuller therapist personas than brief, generic prompts. - Practical uses cited are training therapists, simulating challenging client presentations, research on therapeutic methods, and offering client-facing interactions. - Noted risks include prompt drift, inconsistent adherence to specifications, and AI hallucinations or confabulations. - The author stresses that AI personas are an added tool and do not replace human-to-human clinical training. Summary: AI personas expand available tools for therapists, trainees and researchers by enabling controlled simulations and analytic feedback. Undetermined at this time.