“Ms Caroline Ho, a counsellor at Heart to Heart Talk Counselling, said a pattern she observed was that those who sought advice from chatbots often had pre-existing difficulties with trusting their own judgment, and described feeling more isolated over time.

“They found it difficult to stop reaching out to ChatGPT as they felt technology was able to empathise with their feelings, which they could not find in their social network,” said Ms Ho, noting that some users began withdrawing further from their limited social circles.

She added that those who relied heavily on AI sometimes missed out on the opportunity to develop emotional regulation and cognitive resilience, which are key goals in therapy. “Those who do not wish to work on over-reliance on AI will eventually drop out of counselling,” she said.

In her practice, Ms Ho also saw another group of clients who initially used AI to streamline work-related tasks. Over time, some developed imposter syndrome and began to doubt the quality of their original output. In certain cases, this later morphed into turning to AI for personal advice as well.

“We need to recognise that humans are never perfect, but it is through our imperfections that we hone our skills, learning from mistakes and developing people management abilities through trial and error,” she said.”