Why AI Therapists Are Bad at Helping You Heal, A Doctor’s Brutally Honest Review!
Table of Content
Let’s cut to the chase: AI therapy tools are not therapists. (By Current Standard)
I’m a medical doctor by training, a developer by trade, and over the past few months, I’ve taken it upon myself, along with a few close friends who are engineers, psychologists, and even AI developers, to test several commercial AI-powered mental health assistants.
Spoiler alert: They didn’t live up to the hype.
The Experiment
We used tools like Replika, Woebot, Youper, ChatGPT, DeepSeek and various LLM-based chatbots, including custom setups using GPT-4 and Gemini.
Some were slick, smooth, and fast, but not enough. Others felt like talking to a textbook. But none of them came close to what you’d expect from a real therapist.
Hazem Abbas
Why?
Because these tools:
- Do not follow up: They forget what you said last week. If you mention stress about work on Monday and then don’t bring it up again, they won’t circle back. No accountability.
- Don’t really care: That warm tone? It’s fake, anyone can feel it. It’s code in the end. There’s no real curiosity behind their questions. It’s just an algorithm doing its thing.
- Fail to connect the dots: Real therapy is about patterns. Emotions. Hidden triggers. AI lacks the nuance to see those connections unless you spell everything out — which most people don’t or can’t do. And It happened several times.
- You have to become a good prompt engineer: If you want something useful out of them, you have to phrase things in a way that forces clarity. That’s exhausting when you’re already emotionally drained.
- Lack empathy: Empathy isn’t just saying “I understand.” It’s sensing unspoken tension, noticing body language, catching the pause before a word. AI doesn’t read between the lines, it reads only the line.
- Don’t guide you as a human therapist does: Therapy isn’t free-flowing chaos. A good therapist knows when to say, “Let’s park this for now. Right now, we need to focus on this instead.” AI just follows your lead — even if you're leading yourself in circles.
- Can't build a real plan: Without understanding your full picture, history, trauma, personality, any advice AI gives is generic. And generic rarely works when it comes to healing.
Most of them do not build a persona, others build a persona by sessions, after one session, it has to rebuild again.
What We Found Out
The biggest issue we noticed was how AI therapy tools lack continuity. You might feel heard during the conversation, but there’s no real structure. No roadmap. No long-term strategy, and no guidance.
One friend put it perfectly:
“It’s like journaling with someone who forgets everything after each entry.”
Another noted:
“Sometimes I wanted to be gently challenged, not just validated. AI never pushed me. It always agreed. And that’s not helpful.”
Our Next Step
We’re planning a more formal experiment, better documented to test all major AI psychology and general tools available today, including open-source and enterprise-grade ones. Our primary goal to see which ones come closest to being useful companions in mental wellness.
Our goal isn’t to replace therapists. That’s not the mission.
But maybe, just maybe, some of these tools can help us prepare for sessions, track moods, or serve as a safe space to vent without judgment.
ChatGPT and AI is NOT Your Therapist, It will just Tell you What you Wanna hear!
Advice From a Doctor & Engineer
If you’re considering using AI for therapy support, here’s what I recommend:
- Use AI as a Thought Companion, Not a Therapist
Think of it like a mirror, it reflects what you give it. Use it to explore ideas, write down feelings, or brainstorm solutions. But don’t expect it to fix things for you. - Keep Your Expectations Real
AI won’t hug you. It won’t cry with you. It won’t stay up at night thinking about how to help you. Those are human things, and they matter. - Don’t Skip Real Help If You Need It
If you’re struggling with serious depression, anxiety, or trauma, please talk to a licensed professional. AI is not a substitute for expert care. - Be Wary of Over-Personalization
Some AI tools will flatter you. They’ll mimic concern. Don’t confuse that with real connection. It’s easy to fall into emotional dependency on something that doesn’t actually exist. - Test Different Tools, But Stay Skeptical
Try a few AI apps. See how they respond. Ask hard questions. Be curious, but cautious. Remember: you’re not broken for needing help, but you deserve better than a bot pretending to care.Pick the best for you. - Document Your Experience
If you do try AI therapy tools, keep notes. Track what worked, what didn’t, and how you felt afterward. This helps you make informed decisions later, and maybe even contribute to future research.
Final Thoughts
AI has a role in mental health, just not the starring one.
Maybe it becomes part of a hybrid model where AI supports therapists by tracking progress, summarizing sessions, or sending reminders. Maybe it helps people in remote areas access basic emotional support until they can get professional help.
But right now?
AI therapy tools are more hype than help.
And as both a doctor and someone who cares deeply about mental wellness, I’ll continue testing, learning, and sharing what works — so you don’t have to waste time on tools that don’t.
Stay smart. Stay human.
— Dr. Hmza Musa, MD
Open-source advocate | Mental health explorer | Future builder of meaningful AI tools
P.S. Want to know which AI therapy tools we’re testing next? Subscribe below and I’ll share our results as soon as we finish.
Hazem Abbas
