286 - Steve Duke, Part 2 - Reimagining the Future of Therapy and Human Connection Beyond AI
“I think there is a real desire for young people to actually return to in-real-life experiences, real people, real connection.” - Steve Duke
Ready to dive into artificial intelligence in the therapy space?! If it feels like AI is coming for your job, you’re not wrong. Capitalism is continually working to optimize any experience for shareholders. But what about consumers? A growing consensus says clients of the behemoth therapy platforms are beginning to seek out quality over cheap access. But before we cue the optimism, the proliferation of AI “therapists” is still worrying.
“Will an AI replace a therapist is potentially even the wrong question,” says Steve Duke, founder of The Hemingway Group, a business working with mental health organizations to help them succeed clinically and commercially. In part one of our discussion, he outlined several characteristics of care that differentiate solo providers and smaller practices from on-demand counseling platforms and therapy chatbots. We also discussed ways to magnify the benefits of individualized care in an increasingly consolidated and homogenized professional landscape.
Steve’s back to help us think more purposefully about how we can AI-proof the relational component of therapy while acknowledging that the tech may make other aspects of the job easier, like note-taking. “Burying your head in the sand (regarding AI) is probably not the best thing for yourself,” he says. Instead, Steve advocates for focused integration. “When you look at how technologies have been adopted in other industries, they don't replace entire roles. They replace specific tasks or activities within a role, and then that role adapts.”
Sure, humans can adapt, but it’s never an easy transition. Even if the influence of AI therapy wanes, there’s no denying the rise of AI companion platforms marketed to vulnerable young or lonely people. “Having these relationships with AIs, we don't necessarily know that this actually will improve the mental health of any population. And there's a good chance that it actually deteriorates the mental health of these people, too,” Steve admits.
So, back to that earlier optimism. Despite the AI boom, we still crave human connection. Steve’s findings bear this out. “I'm seeing, like, green shoots of people start to demand more real-life experiences,” he says. “I think there are a couple of roles that technology can play in facilitating that.”
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Steve Duke (he/him) is the founder of The Hemingway Group - a business working with mental health organisations to help them succeed clinically and commercially. He also writes an industry publication called The Hemingway Report, which is read by thousands of mental health operators and clinicians each week.
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