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Building Trust with AI: How Essential is Validating AI Models in the Therapeutic Triad of Therapist, Patient, and Artificial Third? Comment on What is the Current and Future Status of Digital Mental Health Interventions?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 February 2025

Alejandro Garcia-Rudolph Open the ORCID record for Alejandro Garcia-Rudolph [Opens in a new window] ,
David Sánchez-Pinsach ,
Anna Gilabert ,
Joan Saurí Open the ORCID record for Joan Saurí [Opens in a new window] ,
Maria Dolors Soler  and
Eloy Opisso Open the ORCID record for Eloy Opisso [Opens in a new window]
Alejandro Garcia-Rudolph*
Affiliation:
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain Fundació Institut d’Investigació en Ciències de la Salut Germans Trias i Pujol, Spain
David Sánchez-Pinsach
Affiliation:
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain Fundació Institut d’Investigació en Ciències de la Salut Germans Trias i Pujol, Spain
Anna Gilabert
Affiliation:
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain Fundació Institut d’Investigació en Ciències de la Salut Germans Trias i Pujol, Spain
Joan Saurí
Affiliation:
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain Fundació Institut d’Investigació en Ciències de la Salut Germans Trias i Pujol, Spain
Maria Dolors Soler
Affiliation:
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain Fundació Institut d’Investigació en Ciències de la Salut Germans Trias i Pujol, Spain
Eloy Opisso
Affiliation:
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain Fundació Institut d’Investigació en Ciències de la Salut Germans Trias i Pujol, Spain
*
Corresponding author: Alejandro Garcia-Rudolph, Departmento de Investigación e Innovación, Institut Guttmann, Institut Universitari de Neurorehabilitació adscrit a la UAB, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain; Emails: [email protected]; [email protected]
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Abstract

Since the publication of “What is the Current and Future Status of Digital Mental Health Interventions?” the exponential growth and widespread adoption of ChatGPT have underscored the importance of reassessing its utility in digital mental health interventions. This review critically examined the potential of ChatGPT, particularly focusing on its application within clinical psychology settings as the technology has continued evolving through 2023 and 2024. Alongside this, our literature review spanned US Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) validations, assessments of the capacity to interpret human emotions, analyses concerning the identification of depression and its determinants at treatment initiation, and reported our findings. Our review evaluated the capabilities of GPT-3.5 and GPT-4.0 separately in clinical psychology settings, highlighting the potential of conversational AI to overcome traditional barriers such as stigma and accessibility in mental health treatment. Each model displayed different levels of proficiency, indicating a promising yet cautious pathway for integrating AI into mental health practices.

Keywords

artificial intelligenceChatbotChatGPT
Type
Review Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 28 , 2025 , e3
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Colegio Oficial de la Psicología de Madrid

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