Public Health On Call 918 - Should AI Be Your Therapist?
Artificial intelligence is changing everything about how we work, live, and study—and, now, AI therapy chatbots are poised to transform mental health care. In this episode: Stanford researcher Nick Haber details recent data that suggests that therapeutic AI has a long way to go in addressing biases and recognizing safety-critical situations in order to provide adequate care.
Guest:Nick Haber, PhD, is an assistant professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Education, and by courtesy, Computer Science, where he researches AI implementation for learning and therapeutic tools.
Host:Stephanie Desmon, MA, is a former journalist, author, and the director of public relations and communications for the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, the largest center at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Show links and related content:- Expressing stigma and inappropriate responses prevents LLMs from safely replacing mental health providers—FAccT '25: The 2025 ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency
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Kids Are in Crisis. Could Chatbot Therapy Help?—New York Times
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Exploring the Dangers of AI in Mental Health Care—Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI
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Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.