AI Therapy: Should we believe Silicon Valley's Bold Claim at Solving Mental Health? With Daniel Oberhaus

02/25/25 • 51 min

In this episode of SecureTalk, Justin Beals welcomes Daniel Oberhaus, the author of Silicon Shrink, to discuss the revolutionary and controversial integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in mental health care. Daniel demystifies the central theme of his book, explaining the concept of Silicon Shrink and exploring how AI tools are increasingly being used to diagnose and treat mental health conditions.

He highlights the alarming implications of leveraging AI in psychiatry, the historical intersection of these two fields, and the potential pitfalls and ethical challenges this marriage presents. He also delves into the technical, policy, and philosophical dimensions of using AI in psychiatry, bringing attention to various case studies and real-world applications such as emotion-recognition technology and AI-driven triage systems like those used by the Crisis Text Line.

Daniel's insights present a compelling narrative, urging a cautious yet hopeful approach to adopting AI technologies in areas as sensitive as mental health, underscoring the need for transparency, privacy, and ethical considerations.

Book:

Oberhaus, Daniel. The Silicon Shrink: How Artificial Intelligence Made the World an Asylum. MIT Press, 2025. (Link)

Book:

Oberhaus, Daniel. The Silicon Shrink: How Artificial Intelligence Made the World an Asylum. MIT Press, 2025. (Link)

Previous Episode

From Arab Spring Frontlines to Cybersecurity Frontiers: A Naval Officer's Journey with Terence Bennett

Terence Bennet watched from the deck of the USS Paul Hamilton as the Arab Spring unfolded. As a naval officer, he realized that his battlefield awareness was limited by good intelligence. Intelligence drove good decision-making. And in an area of conflict, good decision-making is the difference between mission success and failure.

In this episode of Secure Talk, host Justin Beals talks with Terence Bennett, a former Naval Intelligence Officer and now the CEO of DreamFactory. They discuss Terence's intriguing path from an early interest in the military to a successful career in cybersecurity. He recounts his origin story, which is grounded in a lifelong dedication to service, racing sailboats at the naval academy, his experiences aboard the USS Paul Hamilton, and pivotal roles in intelligence during major geopolitical events such as the Arab Spring and the Bin Laden raid. The conversation covers topics including red teaming, the impact of digital transformation on intelligence, and the necessity of security by design in today’s fast-changing digital environment. Especially of interest is Terence’s new work on cybersecurity by marrying AI developed API’s with effective network segmentation. This episode serves as a valuable resource for cybersecurity professionals, providing a distinct viewpoint on the blend of military experience and cyber defense strategies.

Next Episode

How Do You Get 10,000 Developers To Write Secure Code? With Dimitry Shvartsman

If you've ever found yourself frustrated watching deadlines slip by as your development team waits on yet another security review, you're not alone. In today's competitive landscape, companies are caught in a difficult balancing act: move quickly to deliver the features customers want or slow down to ensure those features don't introduce vulnerabilities that could lead to the next headline-making breach.

Security reviews have become the speed bump on the road to innovation that everyone acknowledges is necessary, but few have figured out how to navigate efficiently. Development teams push for velocity while security teams pull the emergency brake, creating tension that reverberates throughout organizations.

Today, we're joined by Dimitri Shvartsman, co-founder of Prime Security and prior Head of Cybersecurity at PayPal, to discuss how enterprise organizations are innovating security solutions to reduce the time to feature delivery. We'll explore how AI tools can actually enable rather than impede innovation and examine practical approaches to integrating AI security tools earlier in the development lifecycle.

Whether you're a CISO trying to balance security with business needs, a developer tired of security roadblocks, or a product leader navigating these competing priorities, this conversation will give you actionable insights to transform security from a bottleneck into a business enabler.