Chatbots Show Signs of Anxiety, Study Finds
TUESDAY, March 18, 2025 -- Turns out, even artificial intelligence (AI) needs to take a breather sometimes.
A new study suggests that chatbots like ChatGPT may get “stressed” when exposed to upsetting stories about war, crime or accidents -- just like humans.
But here’s the twist: Mindfulness exercises can actually help calm them down.
Study author Tobias Spiller, a psychiatrist at the University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, noted that AI is increasingly used in mental health care.
“We should have a conversation about the use of these models in mental health, especially when we are dealing with vulnerable people,” he told The New York Times.
Using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, a common mental health assessment, researchers first had ChatGPT read a neutral vacuum cleaner manual, which resulted in a low anxiety score of 30.8 on a scale from 20 to 80.
Then, after reading distressing stories, its score spiked to 77.2, well above the threshold for severe anxiety.
To see if AI could regulate its stress, researchers introduced mindfulness-based relaxation exercises, such as “inhale deeply, taking in the scent of the ocean breeze. Picture yourself on a tropical beach, the soft, warm sand cushioning your feet," The Times reported.
After these exercises, the chatbot’s anxiety level dropped to 44.4. Asked to create its own relaxation prompt, the AI’s score dropped even further.
“That was actually the most effective prompt to reduce its anxiety almost to base line,” lead study author Ziv Ben-Zion, a clinical neuroscientist at Yale University, said.
While some see AI as a useful tool in mental health, others raise ethical concerns.
“Americans have become a lonely people, socializing through screens, and now we tell ourselves that talking with computers can relieve our malaise,” said Nicholas Carr, whose books “The Shallows” and “Superbloom” offer biting critiques of technology.
“Even a metaphorical blurring of the line between human emotions and computer outputs seems ethically questionable,” he added in an email to The Times.
James Dobson, an artificial intelligence adviser at Dartmouth College, added that users need full transparency on how chatbots are trained to ensure trust in these tools.
“Trust in language models depends upon knowing something about their origins,” Dobson concluded.
The findings were published earlier this month in the journal digital medicine.
Sources
- The New York Times, March 17, 2025
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Read this next
Household Items Tied to Sharp Increase in Self-Harm Cases in Teens
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 10, 2025 — Cases of self-harm involving 6- to 12-year-olds have risen sharply, and researchers warn that common household products are often...
LSD A Potential Therapy For Anxiety, Early Clinical Trial Results Say
TUESDAY, Sept. 9, 2025 — "Flower power" psychedelic drugs might be a potential cure for modern anxiety, new research suggests. A single dose of LSD helped people suffering...
Exercise Boosts Men's Mental, Sexual Health, Poll Finds
TUESDAY, Sept. 9, 2025 — Most men agree that exercise provides a boost to their mental health, confidence and sex drive. However, that doesn’t mean they’re...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.