Whether it’s the Encyclical from the Pope, problems facing graduates finding jobs, course work in schools and universities, or the creation of new vaccines there can be no doubt that AI is at the top of the agenda as far as any account of current social, technological and industrial changes are concerned. Writing in the Times on 9th June 2026, William Hague said ‘In the upheaval that is on its way, political ideas will need to be rethought around the question of what is the right relationship between people and AI: how we reap the abundant benefits and share them fairly while averting the huge dangers. Many of today’s political controversies will seem minor or irrelevant by comparison’. And, you can add, what is true of politics is also true of relationships.
Already people are looking to technology to provide them with the sort of relationship that they want in life. What is more the technology is now here that can adapt itself to the perceived needs of the person it is in dialogue with. Already too people are looking to AI to help them resolve the problems they face in life both personally and in their relationships – and in those exchanges one question that inevitably arises is whether talking therapies are still needed when machines can achieve so much.
Rather than indulging in a knee-jerk reaction of just saying that ‘Of course they will’ perhaps the more interesting question to ask is what will be the knock-on effect for ourselves as therapists from the increased use of AI by the individuals and couples who beat a path to our doors.
To begin with we will be seeing a number of clients who have already done their homework on their ‘problem’ and may already have come up with a number of possible scenarios for ‘fixing’ it. Rather as GP’s can feel overwhelmed at times by those coming to them with a series of self-diagnosed ailments, so people will be doing the same in terms of therapy, even more than they do at present. We will therefore have to become even more skilled at listening to what they present and finding ways to enabling them to explore alternatives.
Then they may expect to be able to research things further using a friendly chatbot to comment on what they have taken away from a session, leaving us with the challenge of starting the next one at a very different point from where we thought that the previous one was going.
None of this, of course, is in one sense new, but it will be happening at a pace and with an intensity that most of us will be unfamiliar with in our present practices. We will be conscious of another presence in our counselling room which we cannot have a direct dialogue with as it will be mediated through the individual or couple who are present.
I suspect that listening even more intently will be crucial at that point but undergirding everything will be the need for us to build the client-therapist relationship with the person or people themselves, whilst not attempting to do so, however difficult that may be, with the technology they are using.
But why do I say that?
It’s mainly because I believe that therapy offers things that AI fundamentally can’t; and to back up my case I consulted ‘Claude’, an AI assistant, to ask them what they thought. The answers came back…
“A real relationship. Healing often happens through the relationship itself – feeling genuinely seen, working through ruptures, experiencing trust. That relational depth isn’t something an AI can replicate.
Clinical expertise and accountability. Therapists are trained to recognise patterns, assess risk, diagnose conditions, and adapt evidence-based treatments to your specific situation. They are licensed, bound by ethics codes and legally accountable. AI is none of those things.
Continuity and memory. A therapist remembers your history, tracks your progress over months or years, and notices when something shifts. AI starts afresh each conversation.
Embodied presence. Nonverbal cues, silences, the felt sense of being in a room with someone who’s holding space for you – these matter, and they don’t translate to text.
Appropriate boundaries. Therapists manage the frame (session length, frequency, professional distance) in ways that support growth. AI interactions have no natural limits which can blur into avoidance of real-world connection.
That said AI can be a useful supplement – for processing thoughts between sessions, practicing articulating feelings, or exploring ideas you’re not ready to bring to a human yet. It’s just not a substitute for the real thing, especially if you are dealing with trauma, serious mental health conditions, or relational wounds.”
In other words, however much technology may develop, there will always be something special about the human-to-human relationship that can never be replaced by AI.
Sarah Fletcher