Use an AI chatbot for limited tasks such as organizing your thoughts or preparing questions for a clinician—not to diagnose you, choose treatment, replace therapy, or handle a crisis. Chatbots can sound confident while giving inaccurate or incomplete advice, and their conversations do not have the same confidentiality expectations as clinical care. Keep personal details out, verify important health claims with a qualified professional, and contact a live person or emergency service if anyone may be at risk of harm.
What an AI chatbot can—and cannot—do
A general-purpose chatbot can help you put concerns into words, explain general mental health concepts, or prepare for a conversation with a professional. It is not a clinician: it cannot conduct a full assessment, reliably understand your personal context, or exercise professional judgment. Text exchanges can also miss nonverbal cues and relevant history. The American Psychological Association (APA) cautions that mental health support is complex and that chatbot responses can vary. (APA health advisory, 2025)
Do not treat a fluent answer as evidence that it is true or suitable for you. The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for caution and evidence of benefit before broad routine use of AI in health settings. That general warning does not establish the safety or effectiveness of every AI-enabled wellness tool; products and their intended uses differ. (WHO, 16 May 2023)
Reasonable, bounded uses
- Ask for general educational information, then confirm consequential points with a qualified health professional or an authoritative health organization.
- Use it to organize what you want to discuss at an appointment, or to draft questions for a clinician.
- If you are already receiving care, use it only as an adjunct—for example, to practice a skill your clinician has recommended. Tell the clinician if chatbot output is influencing your decisions or feelings.
Uses to avoid
- Do not ask a chatbot to diagnose a condition, interpret a psychological test, or choose, change, or stop treatment.
- Do not rely on it to decide whether you or someone else is in immediate danger.
- Do not use it in place of psychotherapy, clinical care, or a conversation with a trusted person when you need human support.
How to use a chatbot more safely
- Set a narrow purpose. Ask for general information or help arranging your thoughts, rather than a diagnosis or personalized treatment plan. For example: “Help me organize these general concerns into questions I can discuss with a clinician.”
- Remove identifying details. Leave out names, addresses, contact details, and workplace or school identifiers. Share only what is needed for a general question. Avoid uploading medical records or test results unless you understand the service’s current data practices and have a clear reason.
- Ask for sources, then check them. A citation or confident tone does not prove that a claim is accurate. Verify important information with a qualified clinician or an authoritative health organization before acting on it.
- Keep care decisions with people qualified to make them. Bring questions or a neutral summary of concerns to a clinician. If an answer is affecting how you feel or what you plan to do, say so during your appointment.
- Review the service’s privacy controls. Read the platform’s current privacy policy and settings; do not assume a conversation is confidential. Where available, use data-limiting or deletion controls.
- Keep the chatbot in its place. Do not let using it displace appointments, trusted relationships, sleep, work, school, hobbies, or practicing skills in everyday life.
Protect your privacy before sharing
Chatbot conversations may be stored, reviewed, shared, or used in ways that depend on the service and its current policies. They do not carry the same confidentiality expectations as a clinical relationship. The APA advises users to check platform policies and settings, while WHO has flagged risks involving sensitive health data. (APA health advisory, 2025; WHO, 16 May 2023)
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Because practices vary, there is no single privacy rule that applies to every chatbot. Check the service you are using for its current data handling and available controls. If you cannot establish how sensitive information is handled, keep it out of the conversation.
Why plausible chatbot advice can still be risky
- It can be wrong or incomplete. Language models can generate authoritative-sounding answers that contain errors or bias. Treat consequential health claims as something to verify, not as instructions.
- It lacks a clinician’s full context. A text exchange may not reveal relevant history, nonverbal cues, or other details needed to assess a person’s situation.
- Feeling understood is not the same as receiving care. A validating response can feel reassuring without being accurate or helpful over time. The APA cautions that AI may reinforce a user’s perspective and that an engaging interaction should not be mistaken for clinical judgment. (APA guide, 2026)
- Crisis responses are not dependable emergency support. The APA says not to rely on AI in a crisis; a chatbot is not an emergency service. (APA guide, 2026; APA health advisory, 2025)
When to stop chatting and get live help
If you may harm yourself or another person, or you are in severe distress, stop treating the chatbot as your support channel and contact a live person or emergency service. The APA’s guidance for the United States is to call or text 988, call 911, or go to an emergency department for immediate help. Outside the United States, contact your local crisis line or emergency services. (APA guide, 2026)
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Signs your chatbot use may be displacing support
Reassess how you are using a chatbot if it begins to replace human relationships or professional care, or interferes with sleep, work, school, hobbies, or everyday functioning. A chatbot can sound validating or personalized without understanding you; the feeling of connection alone is not a reason to rely on it for care. The APA warns about possible relationship and behavior effects, and WHO has highlighted the need to understand AI’s impact on mental health and well-being. (APA guide, 2026; WHO, 20 March 2026)
If you are comparing a chatbot with another source of support, useful questions include whether it involves a qualified human professional, whether it is intended and evaluated for the specific clinical purpose, what evidence and safety oversight support it, what its privacy and deletion practices are, whether it can assess context and respond to a crisis, and whether it complements or displaces existing care. General guidance from APA and WHO does not establish that any particular chatbot is a safe substitute for professional care.
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