AI: Friend, Foe, or Therapist?

 Mary Casey

Professor Horgan

HST 401

12 March 2026

Friend, Foe, or Therapist?

I open my eyes to pitch black. I roll over and squint at my phone. 2:38 am. It's early Thursday morning, and I struggle to fall back asleep as the late night thoughts start pooling in. I’ve already journaled today in my notebook, where else can I turn? 

I unlock my phone and find ChatGPT, scrolling through the chats we shared earlier in the day. I had asked for help studying for that biophysical chemistry quiz coming up. We had also chatted about how to debug my research capstone code. But that’s not what I want right now. I scroll down to find the chat I usually go to for support: making sense of my love life. 

Moments like this illustrate how AI has quietly integrated itself into many parts of my life. What began as a simple academic tool has evolved into something much more complicated. I use AI regularly to summarize assigned articles, explain lecture slides, and help construct study guides when preparing for exams. In one of my classes, AI is even strongly encouraged by my professor, who in every class tells us to incorporate it into all of our assignments. I am also working with AI in my capstone project to analyze lung cancer data from the SEER database. Yet outside of academics, I have also found myself turning to AI for advice about personal situations, especially the confusing dynamics that often come with “situationships.” Thus, the question arises, as AI becomes more prevalent in our society, is it a helpful tool, or are we beginning to treat it as something more personal, like a therapist?

In my academics, AI functions as a study tool that helps me process a lot of information more efficiently. Many college classes involve extremely convoluted scholarly articles and dense lecture slides that don’t always make sense. One way I use AI is to summarize readings so I can understand the key arguments and main ideas, which allows me to better grasp the overall structure of the material and identify the most important points. I also use AI to break down lecture slides to clarify concepts that might appear on exams. Rather than replacing my own studying, AI helps me organize information and understand difficult topics so that I can approach the material with stronger understanding. 

In one of my classes, however, AI is not just a helpful tool. It is something that is strongly emphasized as part of the learning process. Our professor encourages us to use AI in every assignment and pushes its importance in our work. While I understand the value of learning how to use new technology, this level of emphasis raises concerns for me. College is meant to develop independent thinking, and there is a risk that relying too heavily on AI could hinder those abilities. If students begin to depend on AI to generate ideas too frequently, it becomes harder to distinguish between using technology as a support tool and replacing human intelligence completely.

At the same time, AI has also played a role in my capstone project in analyzing lung cancer data from the SEER database and conducting mortality analysis. Projects involving large datasets, coding, and statistical analysis can be complicated and sometimes frustrating to navigate alone, so AI can be helpful for troubleshooting code and explaining such concepts. When used wearily, AI can function more like a friendly tool that supports the research process rather than replacing it. It allows researchers to move through technical challenges more efficiently and better understand the methods used, especially when the projects consist of research that cannot always be achieved entirely by humans. 

Outside of academics, I have also used AI in a much more personal way. Like many people, I sometimes deal with stressful or confusing situations in my relationships. Modern dating involves “situationships,” which are relationships that are in the gray area between friendship and relationship, and can create emotional uncertainty and frustration. In moments like the one at 2:38 am, I sometimes turn to AI to talk through situations or ask for perspective on relationship dynamics. AI can feel helpful in these moments because it responds without judgement and is instantly available. Its responses often focus on logic and patterns of behavior, which can sometimes help evaluate the situations easier. When emotions are involved, it can be difficult to step back and think clearly about what is happening, and AI’s structured responses can sometimes help provide some organization. 

 However, the risks become clear at this point. AI is not a trained therapist and does not understand human emotions. Its responses are based on patterns in data rather than genuine empathy, which means users place too much trust in advice from a system that cannot fully understand complex personal situations.

Privacy is another concern. When people share personal thoughts or relationships difficulties with AI, they may reveal sensitive information about themselves. Because these conversations feel private, it can be easy to forget that AI is still a technological platform that processes data.

AI has clearly become a powerful tool in both my personal and professional life, helping me study difficult material, troubleshoot research problems, and sometimes even think through emotional situations. However, its convenience also makes it easy to rely on, especially in ways it cannot replace. It cannot replace genuine human emotion and understanding. As it continues to become more integrated in daily life, many users as well as myself are left asking the same question: is it truly a friend, foe, or something in between?