‘AI may know me better’: why Hongkongers turn to chatbots for mental health help

Joe*, a 20-year-old Hong Kong student, began seeking emotional support for dating advice, family relationships and stress management a few months ago to ease his anxieties. He asked questions during his commute to school, while studying in the evening and even when he could not sleep late at night. His go-to chatbot: OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which he accesses through the artificial intelligence (AI) aggregator app, Poe. “To a certain extent, AI may know me better than my friends,” Joe said. Joe is...

By Theodora Yu