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If Travis Kalanick can do vibe research at the bleeding edge of quantum physics[1], I don't see why one can't do vibe brain surgery. It isn't really rocket science, is it? [2]

[1] https://futurism.com/former-ceo-uber-ai

[2] If you need /s here to be sure, perhaps it's time for some introspection

:( but what if i wanna fine-tune my brain weights

> And frankly, it's not even clear to me that a human therapist is any better.

A big point of therapy is helping the patient better ascertain reality and deal with it. Hopefully, the patient learns how to reckon with their mind better and deceive themselves less. But this requires an entity that actually exists in the world and can bear witness. LLMs, frankly, don’t deal with reality.

I’ll concede that LLMs can give people what they think therapy is about: lying on a couch unpacking what’s in their head. But this is not at all the same as actual therapeutic modalities. That requires another person that knows what they’re doing and can act as an outside observer with an interest in bettering the patient.

> Sometimes just a an ear or an oppertunity to write is sufficient.

People were able to write about their feelings and experiences before the invention of a chat bot that tells you everything that you wrote is true. Like you could do that in notepad or on a piece of paper and it was free

What other form of "AI" would be remotely capable of even emulating therapy, at this juncture?

Lots of people are claiming LLMs are therapists. People are claiming LLMs are lawyers, doctors, developers, etc... The main problem is, as usual, influencers need something new to create their next "OMG AI JUST BROKE X INDUSTRY" video and people eat that shit up for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I have spoken to people who think they are having very deep conversations with LLMs. The CEO of my company, an otherwise intelligent person, has gone all in on the AI hype train and is now saying things like we don't need lawyers because AI knows more than a lawyer. It's all very sad and many of the people who know better are actively taking advantage of the people who don't.

> I can't imagine some therapists, especially remote only, aren't already just acting as a human interface to chatgtp as well.

Are you joking? Any medical professional caught doing this should lose their license.

I would be incensed if I was a patient in this situation, and would litigate. What you're describing is literal malpractice.

Of course they do, and everyone does, and it's your like in this song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1xrNaTO1bI

and given price of proper therapy is skyrocketing.

LLMs would be just as terrible at that usecase as any other kind of therapy. They don't have logic, and can't determine a logical thought from an illogical one. They tend to be overly agreeable, so they might just reinforce existing negative thoughts.

It would still need a therapist to set you on the right track for independent work, and has huge disadvantages compared to the current state-of-the-art, a paper worksheet that you fill out with a pen.

> and a specifically trained LLM

Expert system. You want an expert system. For example, a database mapping "what patients write" to "what patients need to hear", a fuzzy search tool with properly-chosen thresholding, and a conversational interface (repeats back to you, paraphrased – i.e., the match target –, and if you say "yes", provides the advice).

We've had the tech to do this for years. Maybe nobody had the idea, maybe they tried it and it didn't work, but training an LLM to even approach competence at this task would be way more effort than just making an expert system, and wouldn't work as well.