Mental Health in the Digital Age: Comparing AI Counseling with Traditional Counseling among University Students
Abstract
The field of mental health therapy is going through a transformation due to advancements in AI. Understanding how AI can be utilized in the provision of counseling services and how it can be compared to human counseling is very crucial for shaping the future of mental health-related treatments. This research aimed to conduct a comprehensive comparative analysis of human counseling and AI-based counseling services to unravel the differences in mental health outcomes among university students. Because university life is full of challenges for students, such as academic pressure, social adjustments, and personal issues that affect their academic career and lead to low mental health and well-being. For this purpose, students were divided into two groups: students receiving human counseling and students receiving AI-based counseling. Through a systematic sampling method, approximately 120 university students were selected who required mental health counseling as identified by their mental health counselors. Pre- and post-mental health assessments were conducted through ‘WEMWBS’. The results indicate that human counseling is more effective in providing counseling services with greater efficiency in addressing mental health compared to AI-based counseling services. The study concludes that the wider field of psychology is still in need of mental health counselors, and is not quite ready for the handover of counseling practices into the still-controversial hands of AI. These professionals and their skill sets will not become obsolete in the foreseeable future. A recommendation is given for an effective integrative approach by combining both counseling approaches, AI, and human counseling for comprehensive mental health services.
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