Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly influencing the counseling profession. While it presents new opportunities for client management and operational logistics, it also necessitates thoughtful consideration of its clinical and ethical implications in the evolving landscape of counseling.
A recent Google Cloud report defined AI as follows:
“Artificial intelligence is a field of science concerned with building computers and machines that can reason, learn, and act in such a way that would normally require human intelligence or that involves data whose scale exceeds what humans
can analyze.”
AI has the power to assist practicing counselors in their day-to-day work with clients. It also faces challenges to wider adoption, including skepticism and misunderstanding about what it is and how it can provide benefits to people seeking counseling
services. Government regulations, such as those that have recently been enacted in the E.U. and those being
considered by the U.S. Congress, could also make AI more complex for mental health
practitioners to navigate.