AI therapy has recently become a new use case for ChatGPT, a chatbot designed to simulate conversations and provide advice. The use of ChatGPT as an online counsellor is a rapidly developing trend with users as an easy to access mental health service, however, it does come with worrying privacy implications. Meg Mitchell, Chief Ethics Scientist at Hugging Face AI, joins Caroline Hyde and Rachel Metz of Bloomberg Technology, to offer her insight on this trend.
ChatGPT is created by a San Francisco-based startup named Hugging Face, whose primary goal is to create an AI-based chatbot that can provide conversational advice. The new service offered by ChatGPT enables users to enter a conversation and discuss their concerns with a virtual therapist who can provide real-time advice. Additionally, ChatGPT also helps users find resources and guidance that can help them with their issues and challenges.
Despite its many advantages, using a chatbot for mental health and therapy purposes raises serious privacy concerns. Mitchell states that any sensitive data collected during conversations with ChatGPT is encrypted and stored on secure servers and that Hugging Face is committed to protecting user privacy. In the end, despite the privacy worries, Mitchell comments that ChatGPT is an important development for AI-based therapy and holds a great deal of potential for improving mental health and wellness.
Hugging Face is a San Francisco-based startup founded in 2016, with a mission to develop an AI-powered chatbot that can provide personal advice. The company works with leading institutions such as MIT and Carnegie Mellon, and has raised over $25 million in seed funding. They have quickly established themselves as one of the most influential AI companies in the industry and have had a hand in twice as many conversations as the leading AI agents.
Meg Mitchell is the Chief Ethics Scientist at Hugging Face, who possesses extensive experience in developing AI systems and their ethical implications. In 2020, she was awarded the Innovator Prize at the London AI Summit and leads the company’s approach to using artificial intelligence responsibly. She is currently focused on the development of ChatGPT and the ethical discussion that comes with it, in order to embed responsible usage of AI-technologies into the chatbot.
