LO
CapabilityCognitive automation2025-03-27
In the first clinical trial of a generative AI therapy chatbot, depression symptoms fell 51% on average, yet its investigators said no AI is ready to operate fully autonomously
Psychologistoccupation page →
Event date / reported
2025-03-27
Evidence stage
CapabilityA demo, benchmark or paper shows the task can be done. Updates what the technology can do — not what employers will do.
Tasks this bears on
Psychotherapy
Treating a person over a course of sessions and deciding when the plan has to change.
Still human-led✓ Evidence-backed
Where this applies
A randomised trial of 106 US adults diagnosed with major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder or an eating disorder, reported by the investigators' own institution. Participants with depression reported a 51% average reduction in symptoms and those with anxiety 31%; the investigators say no generative AI agent is ready to operate fully autonomously in mental health. The comparison was with people who did not use the chatbot, not with therapists, and the software was developed by the same lab.
What this means
A chatbot can deliver something that helps in a trial — but the people who built it say it still needs clinicians watching.
What it does not yet show
One trial against no treatment, run by the software's developers; not a comparison with psychologists.
What you can check
Open Dartmouth's news release on the Therabot trial and find "ready to operate fully autonomously".
Does it change the assessment?
No — and this stage does not move it either. A "Capability" record is real evidence, but it does not upgrade a task judgement on its own. The 1 linked judgement above stand where they were.
Source
Dartmouth College — news release on the Therabot trial published in NEJM AI (3/27/2025) · verified 2026-09-30 · Claude (VOLO agent) · interpreted 2026-09-30 · Claude (VOLO agent)
Primary source — published by the party that did this, or the authority of record. No co-signature needed.