tbh I see a place for AI therapy. There's still a strong stigma attached to depression & therapy for men in America. Statistically, the suicide rate among men is nearly 4x that of women. Men represent 80% off all suicides, despite only making up 50% of the population. I've lost a number of friends that way, which has been awful. Having a private conversation system to talk to might end up helping a lot of people! There's a lot of interesting research on things like suicide prevention hotlines & how being empathetic is statistically more successful:
Comparison of the Effects of Telephone Suicide Prevention Help by Volunteers and Professional Paid Staff: Results from Studies in the USA and Quebec, Canada - PMC
Research since the 1960s has consistently found that lay volunteers are better at helping suicidal callers than professionals. Yet, professional degrees are increasingly becoming requirements for helpline workers. In our first study, we conducted ...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov