Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a mental health condition where an individual has an obsessive focus on a perceived, sometimes unnoticeable to others, flaw in their personal appearance and experiences compulsions related to changing, fixing, or hiding that flaw. Similarly, eating disorders also have obsessions and compulsions regarding eating, exercising, weight loss, and body weight or shape.
While BDD and eating disorders can affect all ages, they frequently affect many teens and young adults. And in this era of AI, many of these young people are turning to ChatGPT and other platforms to give them information and validation around their obsessive focuses.
“I think if you’re going to ChatGPT to ask about your appearance, you might get some really brutal, not kind feedback based on a lot of the junk, for lack of a better word, on the internet,” said Emily Hemendinger, MPH, LCSW, clinical director of the OCD Program and assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the CU Anschutz School of Medicine. As part of her practice, Hemendinger is also an advocate for the prevention of eating disorders.
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“When you are relying on AI for input on your appearance, especially if you have an eating disorder or BDD, you are potentially setting yourself up to become reliant on AI for reassurance,” Hemendinger said. “You’re also opening yourself up to receive feedback that is based on the entire internet, which means feedback based on racism, sexism, ageism and ableism.”
In the following Q&A, Hemendinger outlines the risks involved for those with BDD and eating disorders around AI, how loved ones can best offer support to family or friends who struggle with these conditions, and how the conversation around AI and mental health might illustrate a gap between content and human emotion.