Sketchy Robot Psychologist For Hire
Writing by Evan Ackerman on Wednesday, 12 of March , 2008 at 1:00 am
If, like me, you trust your computer more than any human, you’ve probably got some issues goin’ on. And what better way to address them than with a robot psychologist on the internet? MindMentor is an interactive neurolinguistic program that uses projective therapy, provocative therapy, client-centered therapy, and Pavlovian conditioning (!) to solve problems like “stress, family problems, relationship problems, motivation problems, life mission questions, sleepless nights, worrying, conflicts with friends or colleagues, et cetera. He cannot cure severe disorders like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, hard drug addiction, et cetera.” There aren’t many details on what actually happens during the therapy sessions, but apparently, the robot does something besides regurgitate what you tell it. A one hour session will cost you $8, and you’ll get a discount on ten sessions.
Now, I have to say, this all seems just a little bit fishy. I mean, how do I know that there’s an actual robot at the other end of this, and not some measly human? It’s kinda like phone sex… How do you know you’re talking to a girl who is in fact sexy? And a girl? It’s a big problem. Or so I’ve heard. I’m skeptical for other reasons too, of course. The designers/programmers claim that MindMentor “solved people’s problems for 47% on average.” It makes me wonder how often people can solve their own problems by spending a solid hour typing them out, and whether or not it’s worth paying $8 for the privilege of doing so.
Hopefully, version 2.0 will be a robot psychiatrist, who can actually prescribe medications for my, um, ADD. And depression. And chronic pain.
[ MindMentor ] VIA [ Gearfuse ]
Category: Artificial Intelligence
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