LONDON: The rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly automating many aspects of our everyday lives, from drafting replies to generating recipe ideas. However, as the technology continues to develop at unprecedented speed, concerns are emerging about the potential impact this could have on our future and our overall wellbeing.
Alongside the benefits offered by large language models such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, there are growing worries about how addictive these tools can become and around potential psychological consequences.
We spoke to Dr David McLaughlan, a consultant psychiatrist who supports patients at the UK's Priory Hospital Roehampton, who highlighted four key signs that might indicate that AI is beginning to affect your mental health and also shared advice on when it may be time to seek professional support.
1. Loss of control
"A key feature of all addictions is a loss of control,” says McLaughlan. "For example, people who have got a loss of control with alcohol might intend to only have one glass of wine or one pint of beer, but then might end up drinking until the pub closes.
"This loss of control feature is also present with a digital addiction or an AI addiction, as someone will spend more time on these platforms than they had originally intended to.”
2. Constantly using it to seek reassurance or to ‘fish for misery’
McLaughlan says he has seen many patients become quite dependent on AI for reassurance.
"People with existing anxiety disorders, particularly health anxiety disorders, often turn to Google and more recently large language models like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini to either provide reassurance or for what I call ‘fishing for misery’ – which is when someone will have a concern and are looking for evidence to confirm that concern,” explains the psychiatrist.
"If you’re fishing for misery, it can make those underlying anxieties and concerns worse and can take you further down that rabbit hole or might alternatively provide false reassurance. This temporary relief from that reassurance can keep you trapped in that cycle where you then go back to it again looking for relief again, and you don’t ever learn to sit and tolerate those natural worries or anxieties.”
3. Social withdrawal
"If somebody is using large language models too much, they might end up becoming reclusive and spend less time with family and friends,” says McLaughlan. "This, in turn, means the diversity of activities that they’re involved in reduces, which reduces their human contact and can make them feel lower in mood.
"But it’s also a chicken and the egg situation, because when you’re low in mood and are anxious, you tend to want to spend more time by yourself and reduce social engagement, so it can become a vicious cycle.”
4. Use despite knowledge of harm
"Another key criteria for addiction is continued use despite knowledge of harm,” says McLaughlan. "So, if you recognise that your use of AI is having a negative impact on your social life and mental health, but you still can’t stop using it, then that would be a warning sign of an addiction.”
At what point should someone seek professional advice?
"If you notice that your usage of these tools is increasing and is getting out of control, then it might be time to maybe look for human support and help,” recommends McLaughlan.
"In addition, if it’s causing you harm in any way – this could be psychological, social or occupational harm – and is stopping you from functioning in these domains of your life, seek support.”
He adds that it’s also important to recognise what these tools have been designed for.
"Large language models, like Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini are quite generalist, so are good for generalist type tasks, but as soon as you move into the territory of asking them to diagnose or deliver therapy, that’s quite a specific task that has to be regulated,” says McLaughlan.
"Therefore, do not use AI to self-diagnose and to deliver therapy because that’s not what those tools are designed to do. Always seek human support if you are looking for a diagnosis or if you’re looking for treatment.” – PA Media/dpa
