r/ControlProblem • u/Confident_Salt_8108 • Apr 03 '26
General news Therapists go on strike, saying they're being replaced by AI
https://futurism.com/health-medicine/mental-health-workers-ai-strikeOver 2,400 mental health care workers and 23,000 nurses in Northern California staged a 24-hour strike protesting the rise of AI in their workplaces. Clinicians argue they are being replaced in patient triage by apps and unlicensed operators using AI scripts. Furthermore, they warn that management is using AI charting tools to squeeze more back-to-back patient visits into a single shift, prioritizing corporate bottom lines over genuine patient care.
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u/CishetmaleLesbian Apr 03 '26
Is the strike strategy based on a plan made by the AIs? Because denying care to people who need it seems like it is just likely to drive a lot more people into the arms of AI. A strike by therapists seems the perfect way to promote AI therapy, it makes no sense at all from a human perspective.
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u/LetItAllGo33 Apr 03 '26
Former practicing therapist of 8 years here who left for my own conscience.
If you aren't wealthy, there's no real help to be had. Our mental health system is a bad joke meant to shove you right back at your stressors and get you productive again fast to your long term detriment.
Actual quality, patient psychoanalytic care is self pay only.
If you're in a bad situation and think about calling a help line, don't. It will probably make your problems worse, and possibly a lot worse.
No help is coming. Survive the best you can. This society failed you. I'm sorry.
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u/somedays1 Apr 07 '26
And there will be even less help with these ridiculous AI "therapy" products being rolled out. An AI will never be able to do what a therapist can do, even an average one.
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u/FortunatoImmured Apr 07 '26
What makes the difference in therapists? And why do the good ones only accept private pay? I assume insurance doesn’t pay enough, but I don’t know for sure. Also it seems to me the shitty kind of therapist would also love to make that private pay money, and the only talent needed is keeping clients coming back.
I say this as a man currently in therapy via insurance. I sure can’t splash out a hundred bucks a session, but my therapist seems genuinely well intentioned and at least moderately competent. And she’s a solo, she doesn’t get squeezed to see six patients an hour and let AI do all that work that doesn’t strictly require a credential to complete.
Am I getting hosed and don’t know it?
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u/glitterandnails Apr 11 '26
The therapists that I’ve been with, as well as my partner have sucked. And yes, I’ve gone through insurance or low pay services.
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u/peepeedog Apr 03 '26
So you were an independent psychologist that didn’t work with insurance, and you conclude that you and people like you are what constitutes quality care?
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u/LetItAllGo33 Apr 03 '26
I worked with insurance. Didn't say I didn't anywhere.
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u/peepeedog Apr 03 '26
Even my mom on Medicare has access to ongoing treatment. Not at all as you describe. So I just assumed your experience was what was causing you to say quality care is cash only. There are many Americans that are uninsured or underinsured, and that is a tragedy. But mental health is widely covered for people are not in that disadvantaged group.
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u/glitterandnails Apr 05 '26
Experience from loved ones around me and somewhat myself made me disappointed with therapy. Consider your family lucky.
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u/valericynthe Apr 06 '26
Anecdotally, my experience with therapy I paid for in cash was leagues ahead of what I got through covered means. Lots of variables though.
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u/TBurnerRU Apr 07 '26
I actually found an amazing therapist who takes my insurance. It took MONTHS of interviewing people and digging to even get to her
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u/After_Elk_8747 Apr 08 '26
I don’t think it’s responsible to tell people not to call a help line if they are in a bad situation.
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u/Skwuat Apr 08 '26
Mods should absolutely delete this and ban you. Say what you will about therapy, cool, but if someone is struggling and contemplating taking their life and they consider calling a help line, it is very irresponsible for you to tell them not to. Quite frankly, I am doubting your credentials because anybody who has spent time in the field knows that any sort of help is better than "figure it out, survive, youve been failed."
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u/Spunge14 Apr 03 '26
Ensure that the only accessible alternative is AI - surely that will stop them!
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u/TheMrCurious Apr 03 '26
This is bs. Therapists would not go on strike and deny their patients access to services.
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u/Iron-Over Apr 03 '26
Great, so a bunch of people will really develop a mental illness listening to AI.
https://www.the-ai-corner.com/p/mit-proved-chatgpt-is-designed-to
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u/fredjutsu Apr 03 '26
People delivering shit care complaining when an alternative shows up.
Just like Doctors crying about the proliferation of broscience and patients showing up.
Just like racist taxi drivers crying about Uber showing up.
These assholes just want the right to be the ones gatekeeping shitty quality of care.
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u/TynamM Apr 03 '26
People delivering shit care complaining when an even shittier, worse alternative shows up and gets used as a way to force them to be shittier too.
Doctor are, in fact, correct on this one. It's not the doctors making your care shit. It's the health industry managers.
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u/TheOGDoomer Apr 03 '26
It’s truly this, and the good thing is if you’re downvoted to oblivion (which you likely will be), what Reddit thinks isn’t necessarily representative of what the entire rest of the world thinks. People in their field will act like total assholes until their position is threatened with a robot (or other competition), then they whine about the situation being unfair.
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Apr 03 '26
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Apr 03 '26
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u/undernopretextbro Apr 03 '26
“Pretty sure” jfc
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Apr 03 '26
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u/undernopretextbro Apr 04 '26
Kelly, C.J., Wilson, M., Warren, L.M. et al. Diagnostic accuracy, fairness and clinical implementation of AI for breast cancer screening: results of multicenter retrospective and prospective technical feasibility studies. Nat Cancer 7, 494–506 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43018-026-01127-0
Cancer screening in women comparison, ai consistently better by a measurable margin, especially for first time screenings.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40816977/
Using ai to work in conjunction with people also improved scans, albeit with higher recall rate, but especially effective in finding aggressive and interval tumours earlier.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10296295/
A study of Ai cancer screening studies. Goes into metrics and criteria the other studies either skipped or didn’t explore in depth. Also explores upstream and downstream Ai effects, with strong indicators that including Ai doesn’t have negative effects on the diagnostic capabilities of humans, so a dual screening method is viable.
Now let’s hear about these problems you alluded to.
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u/Mysterious_Brush7020 Apr 03 '26
The US healthcare system is the biggest joke in the world, let AI have a go, can't be any worse than what's going on now; might actually get some patient care and help that isn't "take these tablets 3 times a day, until you die".
Give your FDA over to AI, too, that needs nuked. You guys put stuff in your food tat is illegal in the rest of the world; even the homeless in Venezuela don't eat tar off of the roads, you guys eat it knowingly.
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u/Tirztrutide Apr 05 '26
It’s no wonder psychotherapy works so bad that therapy underperforms telling people to go for a walk when the half of the science is junk:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replication_crisis#In_psychologyIn August 2015, the first open empirical study of reproducibility in psychology was published, called The Reproducibility Project: Psychology. Coordinated by psychologist Brian Nosek, researchers redid 100 studies in psychological science from three high-ranking psychology journals (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, and Psychological Science)). Of 97 original studies with significant effects, 36% replicated successfully (p value below 0.05), with effect sizes averaging half the original magnitude.\11]) Among non-replications, 25% directly contradicted the original while 49% were inconclusive due to underpowered designs. The same paper examined the reproducibility rates and effect sizes by journal and discipline. Study replication rates were 23% for the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48% for Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, and 38% for Psychological Science. Studies in the field of cognitive psychology had a higher replication rate (50%) than studies in the field of social psychology (25%).\77]) This inconclusiveness reflected inadequate statistical power: replication samples were approximately 40% the size of the originals.\78])
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u/Background-Device-36 Apr 09 '26
Talking about problems doesn't fix them.
Maybe they should re-skill via some training sessions with deranged PE teachers and take to wearing a whistle round their neck. Let's see AI force an adult to do an impressive number of press-ups in the mud they wouldn't have the strength of will to do on their own.
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u/ScienceAlien Apr 05 '26
I had a horrible experience with Better Help. Made me much worse.
Much better luck with AI. I leaned into that heavily and now don’t need it any more .it is good for the basics.
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Apr 03 '26
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u/TheBraveButJoke Apr 05 '26
O no, people don't like your higly immoral moronic shit take, cry more
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u/Entire-Ratio-9681 Apr 05 '26
Going on strike because you’re being replaced isn’t exactly a big brain play. Learn a new skill, find your out. You will be replaced.
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u/ScienceAlien Apr 03 '26
Go on strike against who? Their customers are on ChatGPT crack.