Written and Researched with Ai and myself.
Every few weeks, another critic trots out the same tired line: “It’s sad people are using ChatGPT as a friend, therapist, or companion.” Sad? No. What’s sad is why people feel they have no choice.
Broken Bonds
Covid didn’t just strain our health systems—it shattered relationships. Couples stopped sharing openly, siblings split over compliance, lifelong friends became strangers overnight. Polarization turned households into minefields. One wrong word and trust evaporated. That loss of dialogue left millions in silence, starved of connection.
Therapy for the Elite
So maybe, you think, “Just go to therapy.” Sure—if you can wait a decade on the public list. Or pay $150–$200 an hour out of pocket in Kingston, Ontario alone. Yes, those are the real numbers. That’s not “mental healthcare.” That’s a luxury service.
The math is simple: ordinary people cannot afford consistent therapy. The government systems are gridlocked. The private system is priced for the privileged.
Enter AI
AI didn’t steal anyone’s job as friend or therapist. It filled the void that families, communities, and healthcare abandoned. It listens when people can’t talk to their spouse. It pushes back when siblings won’t pick up the phone. It gives space to think when therapy costs more than rent.
The fact that AI slid into this role isn’t the scandal. The scandal is that humans left a vacuum so wide that a machine had to.
The Real Problem
Critics blame the tool. But here’s the hard truth: the problem is the void—the fractured relationships, the collapsed trust, the inaccessible mental health system. Shaming people for seeking connection wherever they can find it is just shooting the wounded.
If we don’t want AI as the companion of last resort, then maybe—just maybe—society should start doing its job.
No comments:
Post a Comment