How Artificial Intelligence Affects Human Mental Health

The release of ChatGPT has demonstrated that such programs can do more than just write code, scientific articles, and analytical reviews—they can also compose poetry, stories, and scripts. The benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) are undeniable, but there are concerns about the potential loss of competitive opportunities in intellectual and creative fields. Ethical and safety questions are becoming increasingly relevant. How AI can impact human mental well-being is discussed by practicing psychologist Ekaterina Davydova.

In late 2022, OpenAI launched the ChatGPT chatbot. Within just two months, its user base reached 100 million people—a record-breaking speed. This demand is understandable since the neural network can do much more than its predecessors. People are already using the bot to write code or find and structure information. It can easily prepare a review based on given parameters, write a note, essay, or full article. For example, when a journalist from The Guardian submitted a text created by the neural network in 30 seconds to the publisher, he was asked to make only minor edits and was offered a fee.

The bot can also create creative products. For instance, you can already buy books on Amazon where ChatGPT is listed as a co-author or full author. The neural network instantly writes songs in the style of famous musicians (e.g., a rap about cats in the style of Eminem), poetry, and prose that mimic literary classics on any topic.

The Role of AI in Various Industries

A noteworthy story involves a student from RGGU who used the bot to prepare his thesis in one day. Similarly, the neural network can collect and format various analytics based on given parameters. It can also enhance existing programs. For example, the learning platform Quizlet used ChatGPT API to create an AI-based tutor, and Snapchat incorporated the technology into its bot called My AI. The bot is individually trained to meet the company’s goals and can write congratulatory poems, plan weekend activities, or suggest gift ideas for birthdays.

Companies’ attitudes towards ChatGPT vary. Coca-Cola is actively integrating the technology to create content: ChatGPT will generate text, and the DALL-E neural network will create visuals. The media platform Buzzfeed intends to use the bot to enhance author creativity, while Forbes prohibits such initiatives. The bot is also not allowed in companies like Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, and some countries, including Russia.

Ethical Concerns and Employment

Academics are particularly cautious about this topic because the bot’s texts are not always distinguishable from those written by humans. People are also concerned about their employment. Some argue that AI will be an obvious competitor to programmers, copywriters, marketers, analysts, and designers—those in intellectual labor fields. Others say that while some job types will disappear, new ones will emerge: for example, someone will need to service and test the AI implementation process.

Visionaries are also cautious about AI. For instance, Elon Musk, at the World Government Summit recently held in the UAE, noted that AI is one of the biggest risks to civilization at the moment and needs regulation. Futurist James Barrat shares similar views, combining the topic of opportunities and risks. In his book “Our Final Invention,” he questions how we will live when AI’s cognitive abilities surpass human capabilities. The author explores what will happen to jobs, privacy, and overall security.

AI and Mental Health

Classically defined by the WHO, mental health is a state of well-being in which a person realizes their abilities, can cope with normal life stresses, work productively, and contribute to their community. We need to meet our own needs, starting with basic ones (safety, physiology) and ending with needs for belonging, respect, and self-actualization. Typically, our lives revolve around overcoming stress to secure our base, needing “higher matters” like spiritual development, self-knowledge, and creative expression.

Technologies like ChatGPT already show the potential to replace human intellectual labor in many areas. But what will people do, and how will they feel when many white-collar workers and representatives of the creative class are freed from work? Here are some possible scenarios:

• The Need to Rapidly Retrain: Adapting to new activities in a rapidly changing reality will be easier for those with developed soft skills (adaptability, flexibility, ability to learn constantly) and much harder for those without these skills. The latter may feel unfairly left out, experiencing feelings of uselessness and isolation.
• Freedom from Routine Work: If AI becomes an assistant that eases life and gives us more hours for non-work activities, we might feel “occupied” while having more time for other life tasks that currently lack attention due to work hustle.
• Frustration in Creative and Intellectual Self-Realization: This can happen if technologies like ChatGPT and DALL-E compete with us and are not regulated as they develop. In this case, people may never be able to create scientific articles, social media posts, poems, marketing reports, or audiovisual works better than AI or another person using it. AI will be a full-fledged player or a kind of “doping” in the intellectual and creative competition.

The Future of AI

The theoretical possibility exists that AI will reach such a level of development that reality will become unpredictably different. Traditionally, this transition point is called the technological singularity, followed by a post-human era. Scientists propose the most fantastic future scenarios: the emergence of new types of people different from Homo Sapiens, the destruction of humanity by machines due to our uselessness, immortality, and the collapse of existing economic systems. This transition could happen in the coming decades.

But what will life look like when competitive AI spreads widely, yet the “X-Day” has not arrived, when the world has completely changed? Most importantly, how will people feel as technologies like ChatGPT, DALL-E, and Midjourney, capable of much in intellectual and creative fields, potentially replace us?

It’s worth recalling a wish by Pavel Durov, posted in his Telegram channel before the New Year: “I hope that for many, 2023 becomes a year of flow state and creative creation. Moments of engrossed concentration give life meaning and fulfillment, which is the purpose of every conscious person.” With unregulated AI, the meaning of fulfilling creative work for some people may fade, as their work results become non-competitive.

Transhumanism values may develop. Followers of this worldview fantasize about creating a “paradise” on Earth, where technology has conquered diseases and suffering. However, this scenario also increases the risk of social inequality, techno-military conflicts, and overpopulation. From a psychological perspective, there are concerns about this type of future. A person placed in an exclusively hedonistic environment without any hardships may develop qualities like impulsive desires, lack of willpower, low motivation to act, and general infantilism.

Freud wrote about the so-called pleasure principle, which normally prevails in children. They seek maximum satisfaction with minimal effort. In adulthood, this “I want it now” behavior looks like: spending all money on impulsive shopping instead of saving for a mortgage or scrolling through social media instead of sleeping.

In conclusion, as AI technologies continue to evolve and integrate into our lives, it’s crucial to consider their impact on mental health and well-being. Balancing the benefits and potential risks of AI will help create a future where technology enhances human life without compromising our mental health and societal values.