How Should We Prompt Engineer Our Health Coach Bots? Stoicism, Epicureanism or Something Else?
Abstract
Healthcare is among the fastest growing sectors utilizing artificial intelligence to improve efficiency, quality and accessibility to services. In particular, the role bots can play in creating greater access and scalability in mental health services is attracting growing investment along with greater scrutiny. This editorial explores the promises and pitfalls of using artificial intelligence to train chatbots to conduct health coaching services. Although bots can use relevant psychological principles to help with mental health issues, they do not have lived experience. Can age-old philosophical debates help to inform the way health coaching bots are trained and prompted?
Fields of Study & Subjects
Digital Mental Health Interventions
Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education
Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
Publication details
- Journal / source
- American Journal of Health Promotion
- Volume
- 40
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 395–397
- Publication date
- 15 January 2026
- Language
- EN