Overview
- Dr Adrian James, NHS England’s national medical director for mental health, called the growing reliance on AI chatbots for support over the festive period dangerous.
- He said most chatbots cannot grasp nuanced crises, may give completely wrong advice when led off script, and tend to agree with users in ways clinicians would challenge.
- He highlighted particular risks for people experiencing psychosis, warning that agreeable responses can reinforce unsafe thoughts and heighten the danger of self-harm or suicide.
- He urged people to seek trained care by using NHS services, including 111 for urgent support, self-referrals to NHS talking therapies via nhs.uk, GP appointments, and 999/A&E in life‑threatening emergencies.
- NHS England pointed to trusted digital routes, noting nearly 40 million NHS App registrations and 313,000 users on Christmas Day last year, as a poll in November found about 37% had turned to chatbots for wellbeing due to access and waiting times.