ON MENTAL HEALTH || Could Over-Reliance on AI Lead to Depression?
This is not to claim that there is a direct link between AI and depression. This is a question I hope we can bear in mind and discuss as we hurtle towards ever-faster, ever more convenient technology.
Here’s why this one is hard.
I’ve penned other stories on why we should give AI a chance. It’s here to make our lives easier and free up our time to attend to other strategic matters. And AI did make good on the promise to make our lives easier; and easier, and easier, until we no longer rely on our intuitions, and we’ve willingly relinquished the power over making our own decisions. Some individuals second-guess themselves and can’t do anything without asking ChatGPT.
When I tell people that the number one use of LLMs is therapy, there are two reactions: their jaws drop, and if they’ve been using AI for therapy, their eyes widen, and they say something along the lines of “I knew it” or “that makes total sense”.
For some, as in the case above, having a companion to help them evaluate options has opened up a world of possibilities.
Case in point: a friend had printed business cards. She mistakenly submitted the wrong contact details for printing. She acknowledged that it was her fault and was prepared to pay in full for another batch. However, she consulted her trusty ChatGPT, and it advised her to share the facts with customer service and ask if anything could be done. The printer ended up offering her a discount, and now my friend is a true believer that she must ask ChatGPT for advice on most, if not all, of life’s decisions.
On the other hand, you have the high achievers, creatives, and others who enjoy championing their ideas and bringing them to fruition. I would classify myself as a creative professional, given the work I do, which includes writing articles, creating social content, and developing brand advertising campaigns.
At first, it seemed like a good idea to add ChatGPT to our brainstorming sessions. Then, I observed my team's and my reliance on ChatGPT to shape our campaign taglines. The enjoyment I would usually derive from a creative process was slowly seeping out of these working sessions because ChatGPT could create numerous options within seconds. There are fewer ah-ha moments of landing on a great idea.
Not only has AI freed up our time from repetitive tasks, but it has also freed our minds from the need for deep thinking. And what happens when we stop exercising our creative muscles? LLMs can think faster for longer, and did I mention they have access to all the world's data? Humans only have our experience and stored facts in our brains. Sure, we can search online to support our thinking processes, but we are moving at a snail’s pace compared to the computing brains.
Which brings me back to our story headline: Could over-reliance on AI lead to depression?
What are some symptoms of depression? I asked ChatGPT this because studies show that these models can predict depression with 97% accuracy.
Of the symptoms ChatGPT referenced per the DSM-5 Major Depressive Disorder criteria, loss of interest or pleasure in most activities, and feelings of worthlessness may be exacerbated for those who rely on their creative work to derive their passion and zest for life. The feeling of creating work that seems subpar and much slower than AI output may make creatives feel less than. In the time you create one ad creative, AI could have made 50 iterations. The skill and speed gap will only continue to widen as AI continues to train and improve. Of course, the counterargument may be that most people have factors outside of work that they care about, such as family, friends, travel, and hobbies. However, significant distress in the social or occupational arena of our lives could throw us out of equilibrium, especially for those who place the utmost importance on their ability to create through their work and hobbies.
The advancement of AI forces us to adopt it or risk being left behind with diminished speed and capabilities; yet when we adapt to the new, we’ve left behind the joy of the discovery process. I don’t have an answer to the best way forward. However, it’s something to consider the next time you open ChatGPT to ask it what you should eat for lunch or how to handle a tough conversation: we are not only handing off our troubles to the machine, but we are also letting go of our ability to think and decide for ourselves.
I believe this to be an urgent topic for us humans to figure out how we can coexist with the rapidly evolving technology, or risk becoming obsolete or feeling wholly unworthy of our existence. What do you think?
