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 being wrong, do not have a clinician’s full understanding of your situation, and may not keep your conversation confidential. Verify important health claims with a qualified professional, share as little personal information as possible, and turn to a live person or emergency service when safety is at risk.
What chatbots can—and cannot—do
A general-purpose chatbot can help explain broad mental health concepts, organize concerns into a clearer summary, or suggest questions to bring to an appointment. It may also help you rehearse a coping skill you are already learning with a professional. These are bounded uses: the chatbot is a tool for information or reflection, not a provider of care.
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Do not ask it to diagnose a condition, interpret a psychological test, select or change treatment, or make an urgent safety decision. Text alone may not capture the history, nonverbal cues, and other context involved in clinical assessment. A fluent answer is not evidence that the system understands your circumstances or has reached a sound clinical judgment. The American Psychological Association’s 2025 health advisory and its 2026 guide to AI-generated advice caution against treating chatbot output as a substitute for professional care.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsThe World Health Organization likewise says health AI needs caution, with evidence of benefit and attention to safety before broad routine use. Its 2023 guidance on safe and ethical AI for health discusses risks including inaccurate outputs and sensitive health data. This is a general caution, not a finding that every mental wellness app or AI-enabled tool has identical risks or evidence.
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Safer ways to use a chatbot
- Set a narrow purpose. Ask for general educational information, help arranging your thoughts, or a draft list of questions for an appointment. Avoid requests for a diagnosis or personalized treatment plan.
- Keep prompts non-identifying. Leave out names, addresses, phone numbers, workplace or school identifiers, and other details that are unnecessary for a general question. Avoid uploading records or test results unless you have a clear reason and understand the service’s current data handling.
- Check important claims. You can ask the chatbot to identify sources, but a citation or confident tone does not prove that an answer is correct. Confirm consequential information with a qualified clinician or an authoritative health organization.
- Use the result to prepare for human care. A neutral summary of concerns or a list of questions can make an appointment easier to use. Tell your clinician if chatbot output is affecting your decisions or feelings.
- Set a boundary around use. Do not let chatbot conversations displace appointments, trusted people, sleep, work, school, hobbies, or practicing skills in everyday life.
Protect your privacy
Do not assume a chatbot conversation has the confidentiality protections or expectations of a clinical relationship. Depending on the service, conversations may be collected, stored, reviewed, shared, or used in other ways. The APA recommends checking a service’s privacy policy and settings rather than assuming your information is private; WHO has also flagged risks to sensitive health data.
Before sharing anything personal, review the platform’s current policy and available controls. If the service offers data-limiting or deletion settings, use them when appropriate. Policies and controls differ by provider and may change, so there is no single setting or privacy guarantee that applies to every chatbot.
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When to stop using the chatbot and get human help
Do not rely on AI in a crisis. If you may harm yourself or someone else, or are in severe distress, stop treating the chatbot as your support channel and contact a live person or emergency service. In the United States, the APA’s 2026 guide directs people to call or text 988, call 911, or go to an emergency department for immediate live help. Outside the United States, use local crisis or emergency services.
For non-emergency situations, seek a qualified professional for individualized assessment or care. Consider reassessing your chatbot use if it starts replacing human relationships or professional support, or interferes with sleep, school, work, hobbies, or everyday functioning. A response can feel validating without being accurate or helpful over time; the APA cautions that AI may reinforce a user’s perspective and that engagement is not the same as clinical judgment.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to evaluate a mental health AI tool
There is no basis here for treating a particular chatbot as a safe substitute for professional care. If you are evaluating an AI-enabled tool, consider what it is designed for and what evidence and safety oversight support that specific use. Also ask how it handles privacy and data deletion, whether it can account for your context, how it responds to crisis situations, and whether it complements or displaces existing care and relationships. A general-purpose chatbot should not be assumed to have the purpose, evaluation, or oversight of a clinical service.
WHO’s 20 March 2026 discussion of responsible AI for mental health and well-being emphasizes safety, accountability, and human well-being as AI interacts with people who may be emotionally vulnerable. Those principles are useful criteria for assessing tools, but they do not establish that any specific product meets them.
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