Alisha Wainwright

And I just started engaging with it, having a therapeutic conversation.

And I actually used two of them because I was curious how either would react.

One of the bots was actually really not good.

And it was kind of like, I don't know if you've ever...

told a partner about your problems and then they just try to find solutions.

They're like, well, you should do this, this, this, this, and that, and you just don't feel heard.

That chatbot was like that.

And then another one kind of skirted the line between, I understand that you might be feeling these things.

Have you thought about this?

And I was actually genuinely surprised that it felt like my most

empathetic listening friend was talking to me.

It was very disconcerting because I wasn't prepared to think that it would do a good job and it did.

It's impressive, but it's also kind of scary because...

One chatbot, I walked away from that conversation feeling worse than if I hadn't had spoken to it off the jump.

And with another one, I walked away feeling genuinely better.

And I felt a little bit more empowered to understand my circumstance in a new light.

So I think it's kind of scary because...

I have the privilege of having access to two chat services that I pay a subscription for.

But if I didn't and I just had free access to what was available or most common, I might not necessarily be getting good therapeutic conversation.

Well, I'm gonna take the reins back.