💡Quick update!! Following the poll last week, you asked for a guide on "How to make ChatGPT sound like you" and happy to let you know it's now live! 🎉 ➡️There’s a new folder in the classroom: "Working with AI". You'll find the resources you need within! It's become very easy to start sounding slightly… off when using AI. The guide is here to help with that. There’s a PDF downloadable version with full explanations and the prompts are also added in the classroom so you can copy and paste them. Also… I saw the votes for making sense of complex policies. That one clearly isn’t going away, so I’ll work on that next! 😄 Have a look when you get a chance. Let me know what makes sense and what doesn’t.🙏

Interesting article summarising the growing concern about how people are using AI for emotional support and as alternative to therapy. For some people it makes sense. It’s almost safer to talk to AI, cheaper, and it’s always there, always responding in a calm, reassuring way. But much like what what happens on social media, AI can often create an echo chamber. Instead of helping people move through difficult spots, it can reinforce them. You ask the same question, you get a slightly reworded, comforting answer, and you feel better for a while. Then the doubt comes back, and you ask again. Over time, you just continue to rehearse the anxiety. Clinically, this is called mirroring beliefs (when sometimes they should be challenged). So if someone had distorted or unhelpful thoughts , the AI can make those thoughts more potent and validate them rather than question them. And of course, AI doesn’t challenge, push back or get frustrated. It’s not gonna say: “You’ve asked me this five times… something deeper is going on… let’s talk about it.” It’s that tension, that can be uncomfortable sometimes, that drives people to growth and progress through self reflection and seeking proper help. Alarmingly, the more time people spend with chatbots, the more likely they are to become emotionally dependent, isolated, and caught in repetitive thinking loops. This is why it’s really important to be conscious of how you use AI. If it’s helping you see something new, great. Just be aware if it’s causing you to avoid facing things. Some clinicians are even encouraging people to build in “speed bumps”… for example, instructing the chatbot not to give reassurance on certain worries, but instead to gently push them to sit with the discomfort. As with many tools, AI can either help you think more clearly or help you stay stuck more comfortably. ‏‼️Do you think AI should challenge users more even if it makes the experience less “pleasant”?

🙏🏼 As a thank you to all of you who’ve joined We’ve given you free access as founding members of “AI for professionals who don’t work in tech”, genuinely because we trust your judgement and want to build this properly. Just click on the tab titled classroom and you’re ready to go! This is very much an early version, and your feedback will shape what this becomes. Please let us know what makes sense, what doesn’t, what’s missing as all of it is helpful. Access is temporary for now while we refine things. Really glad you’re here ☺️