AI Chatbots, Therapy, and Trust With Dr. Peter J. Favaro – The Good Men Project

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December 19, 2025 by Scott Douglas Jacobsen Leave a Comment

Dr. Peter J. Favaro is a New York–based forensic psychologist and international custody evaluator with more than 40 years of experience in over 6,000 high-conflict divorce and criminal cases. A pioneer in applying artificial intelligence to healthcare, he presented early work on AI in medicine at a 1984 Harvard world conference and later created Activision’s landmark life-simulation game Alter Ego. He is the creator of the Bad People Bible program and AI coach, author of numerous books on conflict, parenting, and relationships, and executive director of SmartParenting: The Family Center and founder and CEO of the Center for Improved Human Relationships.
In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Favaro about the emerging psychological impact of AI chatbots. Favaro argues that chatbots are a new delivery system for self-help, with interactive features that can deepen self-knowledge but cannot automatically replace human therapy. He stresses that outcomes depend on the quality of underlying knowledge bases and human practitioners. Favaro highlights potential distortions of trust and relationships, unresolved ethical and security risks, and the danger of people substituting AI for necessary professional care. He calls for cautious use, local data storage, ongoing professional debate, and careful regulation globally.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What is the psychological impact of people forming bonds with AI chatbots?
Dr. Peter J. Favaro: We cannot pretend to know the answer to this question because the technology is new. What we DO know is that knowledge about the self gained by listening to audiobooks or by reading traditional books can be extremely useful, even life changing. AI is just a modern delivery system for self help knowledge. The difference, however, is the interactive component and the ability to follow up, track and journal. People want to know if this can replace traditional therapy. That depends on the quality of the traditional practitioner. If the presumption is that all therapists are competent, that is wrong. Quality of care is a big question mark in mental health treatment.
Jacobsen: How chatbot interactions may shape or distort social relationships and trust in human communication
Favaro: Chatbot interactions are just like everything else — they output information from a knowledge base that is solely dependent on what humans put into it. I have been developing “expert systems” for the past 40 years. AI chatbots do not arise from nothing. They have to synthesize expert information from reliable sources.
Jacobsen: The broader societal consequences of relying on AI for advice, companionship, or decision-making
Favaro: Again, this can’t be known at present. This is wholly reliant on the quality of information in any knowledge base. Greater self knowledge, especially that which helps people understand the consequences of their decision making is likely to be beneficial to self and society. All of this is reliant on the knowledge and how it is distributed through the AI algorithms.
Jacobsen: Security and ethical risks tied to the influence of AI chatbots on personal and public opinion
Favaro: Security is always a concern. One way to address this is to avoid cloud storage of personal information. I believe that local storage on a single devise is the best approach right now. As far as the ethical risks, we are not in a place where apps can promise results or substitute human interactions for AI. We should consider AI to be a useful adjunct to traditional therapy, and emphasize that any inclination of self or other harm should be dealt with by appropriate referrals to appropriate agencies. This is easier said than done. We do not know how many people will rely on AI because they refuse to seek competent professional help. It is a real dilemma. We need to discuss issues like this in professional forums while this type of AI is in its infancy.
Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Peter.
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Scott Douglas Jacobsen is the publisher of In-Sight Publishing (ISBN: 978-1-0692343) and Editor-in-Chief of In-Sight: Interviews (ISSN: 2369-6885). He writes for The Good Men Project, International Policy Digest (ISSN: 2332–9416), The Humanist (Print: ISSN 0018-7399; Online: ISSN 2163-3576), Basic Income Earth Network (UK Registered Charity 1177066), A Further Inquiry, and other media. He is a member in good standing of numerous media organizations.
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Filed Under: Featured Content, Health & Wellness Tagged With: AI chatbots, digital therapy, forensic psychology, mental health, self-knowledge
Scott Douglas Jacobsen is the publisher of In-Sight Publishing (ISBN: 978-1-0692343) and Editor-in-Chief of In-Sight: Interviews (ISSN: 2369-6885). He writes for The Good Men Project, International Policy Digest (ISSN: 2332–9416), The Humanist (Print: ISSN 0018-7399; Online: ISSN 2163-3576), Basic Income Earth Network (UK Registered Charity 1177066), A Further Inquiry, and other media. He is a member in good standing of numerous media organizations.

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