I intend to focus on the ethical issues surrounding AI as counsellors in a complete and holistic way that
acknowledges us and our clients’ presence in the world as independent consumers of it, instead of focusing just on isolated use cases for the counseling room. This is the actual scope of the ethical cases we are facing with this technology. This is because we have a set of values as counsellors that I believe expands wider than the person sitting directly in front of us. However, if you do just wish to focus on the individual client you will see that the points I make about AI and its consequences affect that individual specifically as well as broadly.

We cannot ignore our places of power and privilege in this world. This is my critique of counselling’s prospective responses to the AI boom, and particularly to analyse the workings of one of the few groups within the field directly trying to set out standards of working with it, the Expert Reference Group on the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Counselling and Psychotherapy. I will be honest about the pros and cons of AI as I see them, and I am always open to response and debate and to gain further insight. This book as an online work has the possibility to be updated over time, but the older copies shall be preserved and available for transparency.

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As a physics graduate who worked many years in data science I feel equipped to share insight on the design and functioning of LLM/AIs that most counsellors will not have, to clarify what is and could actually affect our ethical boundaries.