Stephen Schueller, a professor of psychological science at the University of California, Irvine, said AI chatbots cannot fully replace friends or therapists but there are circumstances where the bots might be helpful. “Most people don’t have access to a therapist,” he said. “So for them, it’s not chatbot versus therapist. It’s chatbot versus nothing.”
Is the chatbot better than nothing though?
It’s better than nothing. It’s nothing with a massive power and water footprint.