FULL EPISODE: What Kind Of Medication?! - February 3, 2026
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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How do chatbots impact mental health diagnosis?
Welcome into the last show where science meets silliness and brilliance meets nonsense. We got a lot to cover tonight. You'll learn a lot of things. Here are some of those. A new cancer treatment sounds like a prank, but it's real science. It involves gut microbes, immune systems, and has serious results. In 10 minutes time, we'll meet the scientists working on evidence-based, totally safe for radio medicine involving poop pills. You heard that right. Poop pills.
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Then after that, some men are deep into skincare, gym routines, even Botox, but they simply won't call it beauty. Halfway through the hour, why are guys polishing their looks while kind of pretending they're not? Okay, let's jump into the program. A lot of people type to AI chatbots if they're depressed, anxious, feeling broken, using them for mental health, for therapy. But be careful, it turns out these bots are a little over-eager when it comes to diagnosing you. They're likely to tell you you have a disorder that you don't. So what happens when these machines play therapist? Well, that's what we're about to discuss with AI and mental health researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, Dr. Karthik V. Sarma.
Karthik, welcome to the show. Thanks so much for having me, David.
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I have reported on and I've heard read articles and heard stories of people using things like ChatGPT as therapists. At first, it's a little concerning and then it's a little uplifting knowing that people who wouldn't normally have access to therapists are using it. I don't really know what to make of it. Let's start here. How often are people using these tools to get mental health advice?
It depends a little bit on who you ask. There have been a number of different studies that have tried to evaluate that. OpenAI actually recently released a blog post where they talk about the subject a little bit. I would say, though, in my experience as a psychiatrist, a pretty high proportion of my patients have consulted CHI CPT or something like it about the mental health. If I had to peg it, I'd say probably 60, 70% of the patients who I've seen have at least once consulted Chachapiti about what's going on.
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That is wild. What kind of questions are people asking? Are they mundane? Just sort of like, what's your opinion on this? Or are they really heavy things?
I think all of the above. I have patients who've told me they've talked to Chachapiti about their medications. Like, oh, I'm not feeling well. Could this be a side effect?
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They asked Chachapiti. I've had patients who... are really worried about their health, something specific about their health, and they ask Chachapiti, hey, I'm having this, is it okay? Perhaps more concerningly, I have patients who have this concern and they ask Chachapiti the same question five, six, eight times a day. Every time Chachapiti says, no, no, it's going to be okay, and they feel reassured, which in the moment is great, but I think as a long-term solution, I worry about. And I do know people who have really deep, in-depth conversations with Chachapiti, patients who We'll bare their souls. We'll talk about what's going on. And maybe more concerning, some people who will essentially treat it like a therapist.
I have had this problem in therapy where I sort of over-pathologize myself. I have a distracted day. Then I think I have ADHD. I have a normal day where I'm a little sad. Maybe I cry. I therefore have major depression. I think we all can fall victim to over-pathologizing, to taking normal everyday things that happen in our lives and then assuming we have this like diagnosable disorder.
Yeah.
Let's talk about what happens when chatbots do that. If I describe some symptoms, intermittent ones, temporary ones, to ChatGPT, do you find that it's likely to tell me I have clinical depression when I may not?
It's a good question.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:24
2
How do chatbots impact mental health diagnosis?
0:24–0:51
3
What is the scoop on poop pills for cancer treatment?
0:51–1:36
4
Why are men embracing beauty culture without labeling it as such?
1:36–2:27
5
Can justice be served through virtual juries?
2:27–2:44
6
What are the benefits of using a Squatty Potty?
2:44–4:00
7
What economic dilemmas arise when picking up dinner tabs?
4:00–4:47
8
How can students resist rage bait in online discourse?
4:47–1:20:10
Speakers
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