Doctor Talkabout

Doctor Talkabout: A thoughtful “psychologist” exploring happiness and paths to fulfillment.

I find talking about problems a great way to start feeling better, even better if the listener has some insightful perspectives or solutions, even if it’s just a reframing of what you said. While talking to someone yesterday about actual therapists and how long it takes to bring them up to speed on your situation and get to know you, I wondered if an AI chatbot could accelerate the process and get to insights and solutions faster.

So, I made Doctor Talkabout. It’s instructed to ask questions, consider the root causes of your problems/feelings, and apply a range of psychological schools of thought as you converse. You can start talking to it about a specific situation you’re in, or just say hi and let it get a sense of how happy or fulfilled you are, and figure out how to make improvements from there.

I tried it out myself for something that I’ve spoken to therapists about, and was impressed by how it was able to succinctly articulate some helpful concepts, in some ways better than the humans did. I think it comes down to how a person thinking on the fly is never going to deliver their thoughts perfectly each time, but an AI (assuming it has the right idea at all) has a much higher chance of consistently phrasing it well.

(I must stress that this is an AI chatbot, and you shouldn’t rely on it to solve real problems; see a trained professional if you need help. It’s partly for entertainment, partly a tool for thinking through your thoughts and situation productively when alone. If you have any reason to doubt OpenAI’s commitment to data privacy, then please do not use this to talk about personal matters or your mental health.)