This incident isn’t unique. With the rise of generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and countless health bots, teens and adults alike are increasingly relying on AI for medical self-diagnosis—especially when it comes to mental health symptoms that are often subtle, layered, and easy to miss.
While these tools can provide general information, they’re not equipped to recognise emotional nuance, contextual triggers, or cultural variables that shape mental health experiences. And in cases like this, this mismatch can be dangerous.
AI Can Predict Patterns—But Not Emotions
Unlike a human therapist or even a general physician, AI doesn't “sense” fear, shame, panic, or overwhelm. It uses pattern recognition from vast datasets of symptoms and conditions, which works decently well for physical ailments—but mental health doesn’t follow neat checklists.
Chest pain? Could be indigestion, heart issues… or a panic attack.
Sleep disturbances? Maybe vitamin D deficiency—or spiraling anxiety.
Sudden breathlessness? Could be asthma… or unresolved trauma.
Without context like emotional stressors, life events, or personality patterns, AI often defaults to physical health diagnoses, sidelining psychological ones.
Teens Are Especially Vulnerable
Today’s teenagers, digital natives that they are, are more likely to ask a chatbot than a parent about troubling symptoms. This can lead to:
Mislabeling anxiety or depression as stomach issues, infections, or even laziness
Delaying real help by self-medicating or ignoring symptoms based on inaccurate advice
Feeling more confused when generic AI responses don't match their lived experiences
The Risk of AI Health Advice Without Mental Health Guardrails
Even though AI platforms include disclaimers, the tone and format of responses can often create a false sense of certainty. The way AI delivers answers—neutrally and confidently—can mislead young users into assuming they’re medically accurate or diagnostic.
Worse, generative AI can hallucinate—a term for when AI generates factually incorrect or fabricated information—which in medical contexts can be dangerous.
In mental health, where symptoms overlap and stigma discourages help-seeking, even one wrong response can widen the delay in diagnosis or treatment.
Why Mental Health Still Needs Human Touch
AI might know what serotonin is, but it doesn’t know how you felt during your last exam, or why your parents’ divorce still makes you cry in biology class.
Real diagnosis requires:
Listening with empathy
Reading body language and emotion
Understanding family, school, or cultural dynamics
Following up regularly—which no chatbot currently does
Mental health is not a linear science. It’s personal, evolving, and emotionally loaded, making it far too complex for even the smartest algorithm to truly grasp.
AI is a brilliant tool, but it’s not a therapist. It can’t sit with your silence, hold space for your shame, or catch the quiver in your voice. When it comes to mental health, we need more listening—not more labeling.
