Angela Livingstone - AI Won’t Replace Psychiatrists - But May Expose Us

Angela Livingstone gives talk on AI and psychotherapy. One of the most pressing questions isn't just what AI can do, but what it should be to us. We are thrilled to welcome psychiatrist Angela Livingstone to help us unpack the "almost-human" phenomenon. She takes us on a journey from the warnings of C.S. Lewis to the satirical "golden retriever studies" of John Ellard. She argues that the future of psychiatry isn't about competing with AI’s efficiency, but reclaiming the human core that a machine simply cannot replicate. 0:00 Intro 0:52 Talk Starts 0:59 Unease with something that is almost human 3:13 Why people turn to AI 5:09 AI as a mirror 6:27 What AI does well 9:15 What AI cannot do (but sometimes can mimic) 12:14 What is psychiatry for (and implicitly against)? 14:49 Psychiatry can be relational, ethical, interpretive, embodied, attuned 17:52 The measurement trap 18:45 John Ellard's satire - critique of reductionist research 19:51 The AI parallel - if we only measure what AI can do, we may forget what humans can do 20:23 AI is not human - goals are divergent, incentives are in conflict 22:06 Neurodivergence - AI helpful for predictability, clarity patience - harmful through literalism, skewed norms, lack of reality-checking 23:28 The Future - AI = front door, Psychiatrists = deep relational specialists 25:20 (end talk) Putting too much trust in LLMs for therapy 27:35 Enshittification of care 30:38 Improving AI deficiencies 31:34 AI, performatively more human 31:56 Reasoning inadequacies in AI, data issues 36:05 AI therapist attachment, AI induced psychosis 37:36 Hidden patterns in mental health 41:32 AI assisted communication 43:19 Clinically meaningful vs statistically impressive 44:33 Can AI help make psychiatry easier to understand? 46:40 AI assisted psychotherapy triage 50:21 Accountability for AI assisted psychotherapy 52:25 Psychological issues relating to destabilising effects of AI 56:57 Meaning generation in an automated world 1:01:30 Worries about people using/controlling AI 1:03:44:23 Beautifying the future with people remaining people Post: https://www.scifuture.org/angela-livingstone-the-sun-still-exists-ai-wont-replace-psychiatrists-but-may-expose-us-future-day-2026/ Many thanks for tuning in! Please support SciFuture by subscribing and sharing! Buy me a coffee? https://buymeacoffee.com/tech101z Have any ideas about people to interview? Want to be notified about future events? Any comments about the STF series? Please fill out this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1mr9PIfq2ZYlQsXRIn5BcLH2onbiSI7g79mOH_AFCdIk/ Kind regards, Adam Ford - Science, Technology & the Future - #SciFuture - http://scifuture.org