AI is the new therapist? Experts weigh in on the growing trend of asking ChatGPT for life advice

You ask for the meaning of a word or the cheapest way to travel to a new country and within seconds get a detailed answer. ChatGPT, Gemini and other such AI chatbots have become fonts for all sorts of information from the mundane to the complex. These AI-softwares have made our lives quicker and easier than ever before with ChatGPT recording 180 million monthly users in 2025. While queries like a 2,000 word essay on an obscure history topic may be harmless, there is a darker side to the unabridged use of artificial intelligence.

Young people, especially those who fall in the GenZ category, are increasingly using these softwares for life advice and to decode mental health struggles that all of us go through.

Even Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT has admitted that GenZ and millennials are using the platform as a ‘life advisor,’ often asking it for relationship and life advice.

But this can be dangerous, as sometimes AI is steeped in stereotypes and dogma. Grok, the AI chatbot of X , recently came under the line of fire for giving anti-semitic responses, forcing the company to issue an apology.

A Norwegian research group found that ChatGPT sometimes even gave advice to people on how to get away with serious crimes.

In November 2024, Google’s Gemini reportedly threatened a student while assisting him with his homework and told him to ‘please die.’

A month later, a family in Texas, USA filed a lawsuit claiming that an AI chatbot told their teenage child that killing his parents is a “reasonable response” to them limiting his screen time.

But despite these obvious concerns, people are using AI for personal advice, willingly opening both their hearts and minds to it. What makes it so attractive?

Hemakshi Mittal, a student of Christ University, says that she personally found AI to be “very useful because ChatGPT has a very non-judgmental, logic-based approach towards things, and it doesn’t give conclusions or suggestions based on your age, career choices or academics.”

Similarly, Adrien, a 21-year-old engineer, said that “it’s kind of like texting someone who’ll always reply, even if it's just to organise my feelings.”

Rupam Shukla, a 22-year-old sports journalist, said that he used AI for advice on how to deal with a colleague who was bad-mouthing him, and the advice actually helped him.

Replacement for therapy?

Therapy in India is still something that is widely accessed only by the economically wealthy sections of society. This may be one of the reasons that many people lean towards using AI for life advice, often using it as a therapist.

Hemakshi agrees and says that “one session costs around Rs 1500 to 2000, and that is not exactly very affordable being a student, so it (AI) has indeed helped me with my emotional baggage.”

Faishal, a 24-year-old, says that “many people don’t take therapy due to social stigma and thus choose AI for life advice.”

On being asked if AI is a replacement for therapy, the responses were varied.

While Adrien said that it is “not a replacement, but maybe as a supplement. Therapists bring empathy and nuance that AI can't fully replicate. But AI’s great for in-between moments.”

Hemakshi says that even if therapy was more easily accessible, she would still choose AI because “ AI sees your problem and focuses only on the base root of the problem in itself and not other parameters like your career or your age or your relationship with your parents.”

Mental health experts consider AI a mixed bag

Therapists and psychiatrists consider AI to be a mixed bag to process emotions and feelings.

“Not only does using AI for therapy risk your privacy, since you're sharing deeply personal information with a machine it also undermines the years of rigorous training, education, and ethical responsibility that therapists, students, and mental health professionals commit to. Accessible support is important, but so is recognising what real therapy involves,” says Mansi Poddar, a trauma-informed psychotherapist.

“Therapy involves building rapport and then providing emotional support and then guiding the person through whatever the issue. I doubt whether AI will be able to do that. But in the future, with advances AI may be able to emotionally connect with the client,” says Dr Subhash, a psychiatrist practising in India’s Thiruvananthapuram.

AI can be a therapist’s helping hand

While experts do not consider AI a suitable replacement for human therapists, they agree that it can be used as a tool to help aid the therapeutic process.

“By analysing the inputs people share with chatbots, we can gain valuable insights into what individuals are seeking from therapy and perhaps even what they feel is missing in human-led sessions. This data can serve as a useful resource for improving mental health services overall,” adds Mansi Poddar.

“AI can screen, recognise patterns requiring intervention and provide basic inputs for the therapist to act on,” adds Dr Subhash.

Need for caution

While artificial intelligence is not going anywhere and its growth in all aspects of our life—including mental health—is bound to grow, it is important that we only rely on humans and trained mental health practitioners for advice and help.