A Stochastic Parrot for a Therapist

This is a special episode recorded for the 2023 Big Rhetorical Podcast Carnival. The theme of this event is "Artificial Intelligence: Applications and Trajectories". In the special episode, Nic and Molly explore the idea of seeking out care or comfort from ChatGPT or other artificially 'intelligent' chatbots. In other words, we look at whether ChatGPT would make a good therapist or not. We draw on linguistics scholarship as well as our own personal experience using chatbots -- both ChatGPT and Em -- to inform our conversation.