Discussion Do you think helplines will start using AI?

[The_Hunter]

What could go wrong? [/s]

 

[maniac116]

Yes, I believe that eventually you'll be speaking to AI regardless of who we call with the exception of calling personal friends. It all comes down to $$$

 

[sammiechzxv]

The ai would probably be more useful than the employees. Lol

 

[dontwakemeup]

They have already started using robots if you ask me! Last time I called the lady was older and exhausted. She spoke as if she was reading a teleprompter. She spoke so slowly and dragged her words out, I couldn't stand it! By time to conversation was over, I was exhausted and tired and went to bed lol

 

[quietism]

This is such a great (terrible) idea. I reckon it'll get adopted like a frog in hot water, too slowly to notice until it's too late.

I feel like there's some kind of dystopian sci fi plot in this idea.

 

[The_Hunter]

Jokes aside, oh my god. fuck no. Please, don't deploy such a nascent technology on such a vulnerable population, for the love of humanity.

I am sure nobody is seriously considering this. A... AI hotline. I'm sure human-run hotlines already have plenty workers to be functional (at least), and despite whatever mistakes our civilization has made up to this point, I have enough hope in us that nobody in their right mind will replace human hotline workers with AI, for reasons in obvious.

Rest assured. I do not believe this will happen.

Yes, there might be new AI chatbots that are made with the intention of mental health support in mind; but these will not cause human hotlines to shut down.

Hope this helps!

--Hunter

 

[Gstreater]

I don't think so, at least not in our lifetimes. Ai is getting better but it's also been attributed to driving people to kill themselves so until they get water better I doubt they will, or at least hope they won't.

 

[Life'sA6itch]

They will force it into use even if in limited ways. Keep in mind humans make mistakes, sometimes deadly. So, I think AI will be used if it isn't already in use or in training for this purpose.

They have already started using robots if you ask me! Last time I called the lady was older and exhausted. She spoke as if she was reading a teleprompter. She spoke so slowly and dragged her words out, I couldn't stand it! By time to conversation was over, I was exhausted and tired and went to bed lol

On one hand I did lol and then on the other

 

[Hojag]

Yes, I believe it's possible. Though, where I live, I must admit that talking to a robot would be much better than an anon who:

1. Go silent when I mention... suicide plans or alike. ????? IT'S THE SUICIDE "HELP"LINE OR WHAT?

2. May not be available, because corruption ate the money that should cover the service and you will wait forever for your turn, with an elevator song playing as BGM.

3. Will hang up the phone on you, out of nowhere. Ehe.

But that was my experience, of course. I know there are people who will indeed be affected if an AI is implemented - and that's awful.

 

[_Maya]

I wouldn't be surprised if they integrated ai in some way, but i don't think it'd be fully replacing the people you talk to on the line.

 

[grandeur.egg]

With the rise of AI in basically everything, I was just pondering on whether suicide helplines would start implementing it.

For them, it would cut down on a lot of resources, a lot less volunteers and employees to keep track of, and a hell of a lot less costs.

I mean, hell, fast food drive thru's have already started implementing AI kiosks, so I really don't think it's that unrealistic. I think it's only a matter of time.

Of course, I really don't need to mention how devastating this would be for actual mental health help. Nothing says "genuine human connection" quite like a soulless robot that physically can't feel empathy. Not like the people on the other side care that much, though.

I personally haven't heard any stories of this happening yet, but if anyone does have one or something similar, feel free to share them.

What do you all think? Will AI start to be used for helplines?

probably not, someone asked for homework help not too long ago and the ai told them to kill themself lmfao

 

[ma0]

probably not, someone asked for homework help not too long ago and the ai told them to kill themself lmfao

lmaoooo i saw that, but that incident hasn't stopped other compaines from implementing it in equally useless ways :P

 

[wiggy]

Probably not for the foreseeable future. First we'd have to assume AI could effectively push back against a suicidal person, which is not the case at present. If you lock down the AI's responses, it will make it obvious to the caller that they're talking to a brick wall. Conversely, if you give the AI too much freedom it's liable to end up agreeing that suicide is a reasonable option given the circumstances.

Even if AI could be trained in such a way as to circumvent those problems, I don't imagine there's enough demand for suicide helplines that you would save a lot of money from replacing the labor force. Couple that with the issue of liability and the backlash it would create, and I don't believe it would be worth it from an economic perspective.

 

[RegretedFeeling]

The police to me to stop calling the crisis line. So I just deal with my problems internally,

 

[sancta-simplicitas]

We have a hotline for pre-medical advice, like if you want to know if the symptoms you are experiencing can be treated at home or if you should see a doctor. They started using AI a couple of years ago as an experiment and it ended up telling someone with severe chest pains that they should treat themselves at home, so they reported it to the authorities, like how they (hopefully) would with other employees.

 

[sximii]

I really fucking hope not. They don't help much, but if it's people you at least have a chance of encountering someone helpful or to have a meaningful conversation with. Personally I think AI would just defeat the whole purpose of a helpline

 

[savethesememories]

maybe, but i hope not. i've had some bad helpline experiences but the best one definitely made them worth it. it was the anniversary of when i came out to family (and life went downhill fast) and the guy at the helpline helped distract me by talking about my interests with me. i mentioned liking the legend of zelda and he was a fan of skyward sword, and we talked for probably 30 minutes. i hope he's doing well, i always remember that conversation fondly

 

[Saturn_]

That would make for some excellent black humor. Hey I know you're two seconds and a minor inconvenience away from blowing your brains out, so here is our sophisticated, groundbreaking new technology to assist you! No human cares enough or could ever bear to talk to you enough to keep you alive, so just talk to an unfeeling language model that can simulate care. All of humanity can now avert eyes and leave you out to dry. Isn't the future bright?