Soumitra Pathare

Soumitra Pathare, Director of the Centre for Mental Health, Law & Policy, Pune, explores the risks of relying on AI like ChatGPT for mental health support. The conversation highlights issues such as emotional dependency and the lack of empathy from AI. Pathare discusses the implications of AI in reinforcing delusions and its role in navigating urban loneliness. He calls for a balance between human connections and AI assistance, urging caution in treating chatbots as substitutes for real therapy, especially among vulnerable users.