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When talking about artificial intelligence and psychology, the first thing that comes to mind is the use of this technology during a therapist's consultation. Will there be a day when machines will be able to understand our problems or emotional states? Will there be a day when machines will be in charge of protecting our mental health? Yes, that day has already arrived.
Artificial intelligence is already used in clinical psychology for a variety of purposes, such as helping patients with mental disorders like Alzheimer's or senility. Other times, this technology is more related to psychology, such as when it is used to treat phobias or post-traumatic stress disorder.
The artificial intelligence that will replace psychologists
A few months ago, the company OpenAI made available to a smaller group of users a test version of its GPT-3 linguistic prediction engine.
The basis of GPT-3 operation is a neural network that employs a deep learning model and is trained using information readily available online.
Without going into technical details, the software essentially simulates the functioning of brain neurons and has been trained to keep producing the text provided to it. In other words, we write a text composed of one or more sentences, and the GPT-3 model is able to write cohesive and meaningful sentences on the fly.
Professional uses of 'chatbot' and "virtual psychologists" apps
According to them, in the mental health field in particular, it is the use of chatbots to reach out to patients in need of help or to perform a preliminary assessment to determine whether, for example, there is risk around the patient that is beginning to lose favor.
AI psychology-focused chatbot applications are bots that can support mental health therapies. Younger, Generation Z people find it more comfortable to talk directly via text because they are used to doing so.
For this reason, the two AI experts are wary of the "apps" that users can download on their mobile devices; they believe that, if they are well designed and only used to improve emotional well-being, they can be useful for some people, but should never completely replace professional assistance or human contact.
Relationship between psychology and Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence is used in psychology to understand how the mind works. This is possible by means of various procedures. For example, text processing, neural networks, deep learning, machine learning and other types of machine learning.
Clinical Psychology
Being able to understand human behavior is one of the main goals of artificial intelligence. In the future, it is expected that AI will have the tools to fully understand people's emotions, levels of agitation and problems. In this way, it will be possible to perform psychological consultations and assess the mental health of each person.
In fact, AI is already being used to help people with specific mental disorders. Patients with Alzheimer's and senile dementia, for example. At the psychological level, virtual reality is being used to treat phobias and post-traumatic stress disorders.
Social Psychology
Since social psychology studies human social behavior, AI is applicable everywhere. In fact, this coincides with what the researchers of the OpenAI project stated. The project was promoted by Elon Musk. These researchers advanced their understanding of the mechanisms underlying racial human processes in society.
Only then will it be possible for artificial intelligence to exhibit human characteristics.
Educational psychology
Currently, IA is used in educational programs. It was imperative to change the system and challenge the pre-existing educational paradigms. Therefore, several learning methodologies have been developed. For example, intelligent tutoring systems and neuro education.
Student assistance systems have been developed through the use of artificial intelligence.
New business opportunities
Does this mean that this will lead to the extinction of the psychology profession in the future? Not likely at all. A scientific calculator can do the same calculations as a calculator, but it cannot replace it completely. The tools that help us and make our work easier are called machines, but they are always manufactured, maintained and used by specialized personnel. What is certain is that all these advances will improve patient care and reduce the risk of error.
On the other hand, new business opportunities are also opening up in the development of tools to support psychology.
Conclusion
This article only examined some important issues about artificial intelligence (AI) in psychology. As such, the mind has always been a research challenge. Even more so when incorporating a new discipline. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate and study it thoroughly. However, there are already many successful projects that improve people's quality of life.
And you, after reading this article, what do you think? To what extent will artificial intelligence replace psychologists? You can leave us your opinion in the comments box also visit our blog for more content on artificial intelligence and technology.
