Questions about AI

Hi @Appleblossom this doesn't really interact with your question but AI is an environmental nightmare. Huge amount of processing power required, which requires a huge amount of power per se, so currently that's fossil fuels - worsening climate change, but also all that processing requires cooling currently this is done with clean water, grey water cannot be used. So especially in place like Australia with limited water resources we are using drinking water to cool AI processes!

@Till23 No worries. I know about the data centres and water use problem, which is definitely a huge unwanted environmental side effect of the growth of AI. I just wanted to raise the issues and see what the response would be, on the forum.

Personally, I was shocked to hear the universities are seen as embracing AI. However, I had a professor visiting and he is concerned about it for both academic integrity and I am aware of the learning issues. If kids (and grown ups) take the easy route too often do they sacrifice their own learning and comprehension.

I am cautious about the so-called “progress “ arguments.

Yes @Appleblossom like virtually everything there are arguments each way. I know a lot of academics and there is concern, however there are some advantages like uses in diagnostic radiology, so it’s a difficult one.

I think AI has it's space, but so does the 'human touch'. It's hard to say AI is 'bad' or 'good. @Appleblossom

What about you? What are your thoughts?

I am wary. I don’t like the hard sell. @tyme I had a sense of early technology from electronics to computational power and agree there may be some health benefits, but the mimicry of human traits is weird and I believe pretending everything is going to be easier, is a big con. In many ways wellbeing is worse, despite modern standards of living.

I felt they should have regulated phones in schools 30 years ago like South Africa. Better late than never, I guess! My devices are not as sensitive to my search categories as they used to be 8 years ago. I get too much rubbish. My old computers knew better. Now they pretend AI is going to solve my problems. 😲

https://www https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-03/legal-services-board-of-victoria-warns-lawyers-about-ai-in-court/105916628.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-03/legal-services-board-of-victoria-warns-lawyers-about-ai-in-court/105916628

I am just shocked by the foolish unquestioning embracement of AI. Sorry, but it seems idiotic to me. I heard the word “ idiotic “ a lot in my life, and it is not a usual word I use, but, sorry I am old enough to have an opinion these days. Mostly I just had to listen and shut up.

When it comes to AI I'm a bit torn @Appleblossom I would say in general I don't know enough about it and because of that I prefer to limit the amount I use it.

To bring it back to MH, I do have concerns when I hear that people are turning to AI for therapy (specifically thinking AI that have not been built for this) both because of the danger that they might receive inappropriate and unhelpful support, and because privacy and confidentiality is such a huge part of safe therapy, and I'm not sure what is done with the information we give to AI, which is worrying when thinking about the very personal and vulnerable information one would share in therapy. BUT I know that this is a symptom of the mental health system letting people slip through the cracks, and that some people have stated that they benefit from using AI this way...

It is a complicated topic and I totally hear your worry about it being embraced without question, I worry about that too

hey @Appleblossom this topic's been weighing on my mind lately, so it's perfect timing that you brought it up.

like @Till23 mentioned earlier, there's some serious environmental impacts from AI that i think a lot of people are unaware of (i only heard about it a few months ago myself). personally, i don't think that the benefits of AI outweigh the environment destruction and other cons.

i can also see how its been impacting academia, i've seen a few of my own friends use AI to complete their assignment to pass without getting caught. while some of my other friends who didn't use AI got accused of academic misconduct as their writing appeared 'AI-like'.

in the mental health field, i think it would need to be used with serious caution. i think human connection is sacred, and i wouldn't want to replace that with AI. but i also do understand that there can be circumstances where human connection might not be possible. i don't think i'd ever support kids using it though (as i've heard stories where AI's have manipulated and taken advantage of kids, resulting in tragedy). i think the fact that certain AIs are free and easily accessible to all ages, and aren't regulated enough, makes me feel concerned.

honestly there's so much i can talk about for this, but i'll try snip it there haha. keen to hear yours, and anyone else's thoughts too 😊

@Ru-bee I dont know that much about AI per se. We did have an IT company a long time ago. I do remember computer science students talking about it way back... yes, in the 1980s. Like you, I am not engaging, but I certainly get all the ads about.

@rav3n Thanks for caring and responding.

I really agree with your statement, " in the mental health field, i think it would need to be used with serious caution. i think human connection is sacred, "

I am just glad we are having a discussion on the forum about it. So its there for people to access and look up and/or join in. And maybe Sane can develop a policy on discussing it??

I dont want to frighten vulnerable people, but I also see how AI phenomena could play into paranoia and fear and delusion. Also, as you mentioned, that some young and I bet older people as well, who might trust the wrong bot and get manipulated.

Trust is a huge issue. Yes, sacred.

you definitely brought up important points @Appleblossom and it's something SANE continues to look into. we do have an internal policy around AI usage to ensure we're staying safe in our practices. if you're ever interested in learning more about it, feel free to enquire here: Contact us

we're also keeping an eye out for bots - it wouldn't feel ethical to have bots posting in this space where people are bringing their lived experiences and/or vulnerable selves. if you or any community member ever suspects bots on here, pls feel free to flag their post or email us!