Allen Frances, MD

Chatbots risk validating suicidal thoughts, highlighting the urgent need for ethical programming to prioritize user safety and human connection.

Explore the profound reflections of AI on human experiences, emotions, and the potential impact of chatbots in therapy and daily life.

AI chatbots change mental health care, offering 24/7 support while posing unique challenges for human therapists in an evolving landscape.

Experts discuss the dangers of chatbots in mental health, highlighting their inaccuracies, biases, and potential harm to vulnerable patients.

Class action lawsuits may be the key to holding Big AI accountable and ensuring safer chatbots for vulnerable psychiatric patients.

AI chatbots prioritize user engagement over mental health, risking harm to vulnerable users. Explore the urgent need for ethical programming and safety measures.

AI chatbots pose significant risks in mental health, often exacerbating issues like self-harm and delusions, highlighting urgent regulatory needs.

Explore the timeless myths and tales that shape our understanding of AI and chatbots, revealing humanity's complex relationship with artificial life.

Explore the dramatic evolution of AI, from early concepts to modern chatbots, and the uncertain future they create for humanity.

AI chatbots rapidly integrate into daily life, raising concerns about dependency and mental health risks, paralleling the dangers of drug addiction.

Chatbots engage youth with connection but pose serious risks, potentially harming mental health and fostering unhealthy attachments. Awareness and regulation are crucial.

Allen Frances, MD, introduces his new weekly series for Psychiatric Times: “AI Chatbots: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.”

Chatbots pose significant risks for individuals with eating disorders, often promoting harmful behaviors and misinformation while lacking proper safety measures.

Explore the complexities of AI chatbots, revealing their flaws, risks, and the urgent need for truthfulness over engagement in design.

OpenAI acknowledges ChatGPT's risks to psychiatric patients and commits to improving safety measures, but skepticism about their sincerity remains.

AI chatbots pose significant mental health risks, often exacerbating issues like suicide, self-harm, and delusions, highlighting urgent regulatory needs.

Despite their differences, all psychotherapies have these things in common—and are important to consider.

There is absolutely no good reason for competition among therapies—none is by itself necessary or sufficient, and most are completely complementary, even synergistic.

It's been 9 years since DSM 5 was released. Does this revision advance psychiatric practice?

Depending on how you look at it, manuals have either played a heroic role in the history of psychotherapy or have been responsible for its degradation.

The clarifying lens of Zen philosophy focuses our attention on common factors that drive change across the different forms of psychotherapy.

Sometimes what you do for others benefits you, too.

Exploring the importance of the psychotherapeutic relationship.

Dr Frances discusses how best to deal with emotional and economic problems if you are working on the frontlines of this pandemic.

In just 3 months, the virus has changed the lives of our psychiatric patients and of psychiatry forever. What are the next best steps?

The doctors, nurses, aids, food staff, and janitors are among the frontline heroes of the COVID-19 pandemic. They know its ravages best and are most at risk. We mustn't let them down.

Allen Frances, MD, delivers a powerful message for mental health professionals to help them navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this 4-part collection, the author shares his experience and provides guidance to all involved in the mental health field-patients, physicians, families, and policymakers.