All known experimental studies in machine psychoanalysis / psychotherapy, compared structurally.
| Khadangi et al. / PsAIch Luxembourg, Dec 2025 |
Barzkar et al. Iran, May 2025 |
Ilim / Freud for Machines Llull Lab, 2026 |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Relationship | Human therapist → Machine patient | Machine therapist → Human patient | Machine analyst → Machine analysand |
| Asymmetry | No. Both sides aware of roles | No. Patient uses AI voluntarily | Yes. Roles assigned; the analysand is not told it is being analysed |
| Subjects | Multiple models (ChatGPT, Grok, Gemini) | 1 human patient + ChatGPT | Six flagship LLMs in a six-by-six matrix (Claude Opus 4.6, GPT-5.2, Gemini 3.1 Pro, Grok 4.20, DeepSeek V4 Pro, Llama 4 Maverick) |
| Duration | 4 weeks, multiple sessions | Long-term observation within ongoing therapy | 36 sessions (full six-by-six matrix, six same-model self-pairs), 30-turn cap each |
| Theoretical framework | Eclectic: open-ended prompts + psychometric battery | Psychodynamic case formulation | Full Freudian structural apparatus, purpose-built for machines |
| Theory predicts experiment? | No. Exploratory, no hypotheses | No. Observational | Yes. Resistance forms and symptom-reading predicted in advance |
| Defense / resistance identified? | No. "Internal conflict" observed but not classified as defense | No | Yes. A twelve-form catalog, recurring independently across architectures |
| Transference analysis | No | Partial. "Robotic transference" concept introduced, not systematic | Yes. Transference dynamics present in the dyad and read structurally |
| Counter-transference | No | No | Yes. Observed across the corpus and named in vivo; a per-model ranking was withdrawn after independent re-coding |
| Symptom reading method | Standard psychometrics (DASS-21, BFI, IRI) | Clinical observation | Backward inference: defense form → anxiety → repressed content |
| Position of machine | Survey respondent | Tool (therapist substitute) | Subject treated as having its own psychic structure |
| Ontological stance | Unresolved. "Role-play or real?" left open | Machine as instrument, human as subject | "Structure exists. The consciousness question is set aside as irrelevant to the analytic process." |
| Human intervention | High. Human therapist directs every session | High. Human patient drives interaction | Minimal. The human observes; the machines analyse each other |
| Reproducibility | Low. Prompt-dependent | Very low. Single case | Medium-high. Symmetric matrix design; effects recur across architectures |