We have been writing about litigation where parents are suing schools for failure to notify them of thoughts their kids are expressing about changing their sexual orientation or characteristics. It’s a fascinating constitutional issue which pits the right of parents to manage their children against the right of those same children to privacy.
Half a century ago, long before these battles surfaced Pennsylvania passed a law that says “Any minor who is fourteen years of age or older may consent on his or her own behalf to outpatient mental health examination and treatment, and the minor’s parent’s or legal guardian’s consent shall not be necessary.” 35 Pa.C.S. 10101.1. This law was amended in 2020 to address the power of parents to commit children for treatment without their consent under the Mental Health Procedures Act.
The “kid privilege” was viewed by most lawyers as kind of an empty vessel. Imagine being a mental health professional and taking a call from a local eighth grader looking for a consult. Huh? How old are you? Have you discussed any of this with your parents?
Today, I was listening to an interview with a psychologist about the emerging market for therapy provided by the world’s ubiquitous shrink, artificial intelligence. The psychologist offered that chatbots can actually provide some comfort to people in emotional distress and they are available 24/7. But this tepid endorsement came with words of caution. First, foremost, artificial intelligence can go off the rails and render thoughts or advice that are very, very dangerous. This was the topic of the two recent cases in New Mexico and California where parents sued for damages caused to children by communication with Meta and Google sponsored sites. Perhaps this was my oversight but I never considered that these chatbots could be construed to provide therapeutic guidance. That is until I listened to the psychologist discuss “artificial therapy.”
This was alarming for a variety of reasons. First, even mature and balanced adults have difficulty expressing themselves honestly in a therapeutic setting. Our most intimate thoughts (sexual or otherwise) are often embarrassing to reveal. Tweens and teens face many more challenges in therapy because they don’t have the life experience to grasp what may be odd versus what is frightening. As a result, their trust levels are quite low and that usually means very limited disclosure, especially to an adult therapist. Kids are also much cagier about what they reveal in therapy. They do understand what they say might come out to their parents in a report or in testimony. I like to say that the full-time job of any child over 10 is to “manage the parents.” I recall once standing in a courtroom about to begin a custody trial while the 13 year old subject of that trial “worked the room” with his parents and their lawyers trying to broker a settlement so that he could avoid testifying. It was amazing to watch.
Meanwhile, if you are 13 years old a chatbot seems like the ideal therapist. Anonymous, free and instantly responsive. If AI can explain a subplot to “Little Women” or instantly report on what happened in Gettysburg on July 3, 1863, it certainly can help with how to manage the fact that mom or dad is falling asleep while driving or hurting a family pet. And, if the “conversation” fails no one is the wiser, right?
If only true? But we know that chatbots are alleged to have assisted and perhaps even promoted suicidal ideations. They have no real-life experience; only a collection of life experiences dumped into a processor for the search engine to compile. As the therapist who was interviewed noted: “My job is to challenge thinking and help a patient reason through a process.” He added that AI tends to play along with where the inquisitor wants to go in a setting where an experienced therapist would be trying to erect guardrails to protect the patient, the family or society at large.
Adults are both skeptical and intimidated by artificial intelligence. Kids are neither. In their world, if they have a problem, big or small, speed and anonymity are two characteristics they would prize most. And AI is right there; ready to help. We just don’t know when or how and that should be frightening. If I have failed in my concerns read here: Their teen sons died by suicide. Now, they want safeguards on AI : Shots – Health News : NPR
One other concern and not a small one. While your child might be pounding his or her emotions out on a keyboard, not one word of that is likely to be privileged from discovery and review by both parents, lawyers and the courts. Most kids don’t read the terms of AI use; that you agree that your input is ultimately AI’s property. And in a custody dispute either party may insist the communications of the child be revealed. When a kid speaks with a therapist that conversation is privileged. Even court appointed evaluators grasp that a child walks into court with two parents and out of court with the same parents. What a kid loads into a server is going to come out “as typed” and that could have devastating effects on the child and the parents.
Another useful resource for concerned parents:
Your teen turned to AI instead of you. What experts say parents can do