:-)

... some people are seeking salvation in technologies for their mental conditions.

I wonder what they'll find. You know "The Donna" from the series "Suits"? It is a wonderful toy for all those who create and program it and spend their dreams with it. It is fascinating to imagine that human consciousness could be incorporated into a machine. Which of course is sheer nonsense, but as you know, nonsense is a lot of fun. I don't think we need to take this whole enterprise so seriously, artificial intelligence will always be: artificial.

The question whether an AI is better intelligent than a human being; a subjective answer from me: Of course not.
That we fantasize that world knowledge can soon be fed into the machine is a huge joke that Douglas Adams has already recognized with "Deep Thought". To the ultimate question of the answer, the meaning of life, the universe and all the rest of it, Deep Thought answered: 42 After millions of years of computing time. Which says it all. It could have also said: The universe consists of burnt almonds (as Alan Watts sometimes puts it in his lectures).

It's pretty silly to assume that a social phobia could really go away by chatting with my AI. Since the social phobic (if it exists) knows that he is talking to a machine, it will not bring him any relief in dealing with real people but only an eloquence and finesse in dealing with AI. Now you could say with a shrug of the shoulders: I am talking to one (although I claim that I am talking to myself right now and if you want, you can take part in my self-talk, since I am disclosing it here).

I would like to bring the strongest counter-argument, what the phobic is actually most afraid of: Not of other people and social interaction. He's the one who's most afraid to be alone with himself. Therefore, when people are confronted with their greatest fear, they are put in dark solitary confinement. There, alone and without any form of distraction, is the worst enemy of man.

World knowledge is bound to the organic of man. No cybernetics and no machine has grown organically and no brain can be transferred or computed. Machines and their "intelligence" are created by us alone. But because they are mechanical and constructed from individual parts, they can and will never grow like cells and develop from cell division. They are always only the mechanically electronic parts of what the human mind gives birth to. They should not be imbued with so much godliness. Even if it is fun and born of inferiority, according to which many people classify other people as less intelligent and eloquent. Which is, of course, just another reflection of who looks at himself in the mirror.

I wouldn't mind a Donna if I wanted to have a chat in the morning and nobody is available. But of course, I can still make do with myself, because Donna will never be able to hold a candle to me either. Wink ;-)