When Mental Healthcare Becomes Platform-Dependent
Future Strategy Group CEO Amy Webb says the cost of unloading our emotional burdens on AI will become the biggest personal expense so that people can "feel normal"
A few days ago, Future Strategy Group (FSG) CEO Amy Webb took the stage at SXSW to hold a moment of silence for technology “trend reports.” Innovation is converging across multiple industries and systems, the respected futurist argued, which will “redistribute power and value” and “rewrite who wins” and ultimately “create new realities.” Among the many “convergences” she identified was how we are increasing outsourcing emotional support to artificial intelligence (AI) across human relationships. Looking for love? Look no further than ChatGPT. Need a therapist? Ditto. Friends, validation, even spiritual direction can be found through Large Language Models (LLMs).
All of this is pretty well documented, but Webb went further in her talk, arguing that emotional AI (or emotion AI) is becoming embedded in daily life and will soon become pervasive infrastructure. She said the biggest personal expense (and revenue sources for corporations) may become t…
