Humanoid Robots Infusing AI For Mental Health Gets Us Walking-Talking Robot Therapists

Reference: Found here

In today's column, I examine an intriguing twist to the usual discussions about the use of AI for mental health advisement.

First, people are increasingly making use of their PCs and smartphones to access generative AI and ask questions about their mental health, essentially using AI as a kind of therapist.

That's an abundant fact and widely reported. Second, the upcoming twist will be that humanoid robots, physically resembling humans, will be improved sufficiently so that they will adroitly function in our homes, including being closely paired with the latest in generative AI.

This analysis of AI breakthroughs is part of my ongoing Forbes column coverage on the latest in AI, including identifying and explaining various impactful AI complexities (see the link here ).

As a quick background, I've been extensively covering and analyzing a myriad of facets regarding the advent of modern-era AI that produces mental health advice and performs AI-driven therapy. This rising use of AI has principally been spurred by the evolving advances and widespread adoption of generative AI. For a quick summary of some of my posted columns on this evolving topic, see the link here , which briefly recaps about forty of the over one hundred column postings that I've made on the subject.

There is little doubt that this is a rapidly developing field and that there are tremendous upsides to be had, but at the same time, regrettably, hidden risks and outright gotchas come into these endeavors too. I frequently speak up about these pressing matters, including in an appearance last year on an episode of CBS's 60 Minutes , see the link here .

If you are new to the topic of AI for mental health, you might want to consider reading my recent analysis of the field, which also recounts a highly innovative initiative at the Stanford University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences called AI4MH; see the link here .

Let's first explore the nature of so-called social robots and then consider the upcoming advent of more advanced robots that are referred to as humanoid robots.