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Is AI running the asylum?

Photo of Daniel Oberhaus
Courtesy of MIT Press
Daniel Oberhaus
"The Silicon Shrink" book cover
Courtesy of MIT Press

Among the many promises that AI claims to deliver, psychiatry is on the list. With its massive database of mental conditions, psychological studies and data on human behavior, AI is declaring its ability to detect mental disorders with superhuman accuracy, provide affordable therapy for those who can't afford or can't access treatment and even invent new psychiatric drugs.

But, according to Daniel Oberhaus, science writer and author of the new book "The Silicon Shrink: How Artificial Intelligence Made the World an Asylum," this hype obscures an unnerving reality.