Many people were motivated to use AI therapy because of their frustration with systemic challenges limiting their access to mental healthcare and their sense that this care is costly and inadequate.

Positive comments included: (1) AI avoids some of the downsides of the current mental healthcare system (e.g., mental healthcare is degraded, inaccessible and expensive), and (2) potential upsides to AI (e.g., accessibility and cost, benefits of AI like a lack of judgment).

Negative comments included: (1) societal concerns (e.g., technology cannot solve structural drivers of mental illness), (2) treatment effectiveness concerns (e.g., the human therapeutic relationship is key), and (3) safety and regulatory concerns (e.g., concerns about data privacy).

We find more negative reactions (n=213) than positive ones (n=142).