Are Mental-Health Chatbots Safe? episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 16, 2026 · 19 MIN

Are Mental-Health Chatbots Safe?

from WSJ What’s News · host The Wall Street Journal

The promise for AI mental-health tools is clear: bringing support to people who need it, when they need it. But these chatbots can come with risks. How do they respond when someone is in crisis, or thinking about harming themselves? In Part Two of our special series “The AI Therapist,” WSJ What’s News host Alex Ossola digs into the guardrails that companies are installing in their AI tools—and the questions as to whether they’re enough.  Episode 1 of The AI Therapist: When People Turn to Chatbots for Mental Health Further Reading: Chatbots Are Replacing Therapists With Little Scientific Evidence Behind Them Teens Seek Mental-Health Help From Chatbots. That’s Dangerous, Says New Study. How AI Advice Is Undermining Eating-Disorder Therapy When There’s No School Counselor, There’s a Bot Sign up for the WSJ's free What's News newsletter. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Aug 16, 2026

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Are Mental-Health Chatbots Safe?

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