Daniel Oberhaus, a science and technology journalist, discusses his book, "The Silicon Shrink," which addresses the unsettling intersection of AI and psychiatry. He reveals how AI promises superhuman accuracy in detecting mental disorders but lacks evidence of improving outcomes. Oberhaus shares personal insights after losing his sister to suicide, highlighting the risks of psychiatric surveillance and manipulation through algorithms. He introduces the concept of "swipe psychology," warning about the ethical dilemmas posed by AI in mental health care.
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Book's Origin
Daniel Oberhaus's sister died by suicide in 2018, prompting his investigation into AI in psychiatry.
He wondered if AI could have detected early warning signs in her digital footprint.
insights INSIGHT
Defining Mental Disorders
Psychiatry uses symptom-based diagnoses lacking biological markers, unlike other medical fields.
Mental disorders are defined by harmful dysfunction, but "normal" functioning remains unclear.
insights INSIGHT
AI and Psychiatry's Shared History
AI and psychiatry's intertwined history dates back to AI's origins, with early AI pioneers collaborating with psychologists.
They believed understanding the human brain was key to replicating intelligence in machines.
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How Artificial Intelligence Made the World an Asylum
Daniel Oberhaus
The Human Use of Human Beings
Norbert Wiener
Published in 1950 and revised in 1954, 'The Human Use of Human Beings' argues for the benefits of automation to society, analyzing the meaning of productive communication and discussing ways for humans and machines to cooperate. Wiener emphasizes the potential for machines to amplify human power, release people from manual labor, and enable more creative pursuits. He also explores the risks of dehumanization and subordination and offers suggestions on how to avoid these risks, advocating for the use of machines to increase leisure and enrich spiritual life rather than solely for profits[5][4][1].
AI psychiatrists promise to detect mental disorders with superhuman accuracy, provide affordable therapy for those who can't afford or can't access treatment, and even invent new psychiatric drugs. But the hype obscures an unnerving reality. In The Silicon Shrink: How Artificial Intelligence Made the World an Asylum(MIT Press, 2025), Daniel Oberhaus tells the inside story of how the quest to use AI in psychiatry has created the conditions to turn the world into an asylum. Most of these systems, he writes, have vanishingly little evidence that they improve patient outcomes, but the risks they pose have less to do with technological shortcomings than with the application of deeply flawed psychiatric models of mental disorder at unprecedented scale.
Oberhaus became interested in the subject of mental health after tragically losing his sister to suicide. In The Silicon Shrink, he argues that these new, ostensibly therapeutic technologies already pose significant risks to vulnerable people, and they won't stop there. These new breeds of AI systems are creating a psychiatric surveillance economy in which the emotions, behavior, and cognition of everyday people are subtly manipulated by psychologically savvy algorithms that have escaped the clinic. Oberhaus also introduces readers to the concept of “swipe psychology,” which is quickly establishing itself as the dominant mode of diagnosing and treating mental disorders.
It is not too late to change course, but to do so means we must reckon with the nature of mental illness, the limits of technology, and what it means to be human.
This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars.
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