Comprehensive Summary
This study examined whether AI-assisted art therapy could provide greater psychological benefit than traditional art therapy for adults recovering from work-related injuries. In a randomized 6-week trial at a JCI-accredited hospital in Jiangsu Province, 113 participants aged 18–65 with clinically significant psychological distress (PTSD per DSM-5 or Beck Anxiety Inventory) were assigned to either AI-assisted sessions using a ChatGPT-4 platform or traditional art therapy sessions. Exclusion criteria included severe cognitive impairment and prior exposure to AI-based therapy. Both groups received weekly one-hour sessions, with outcomes measured by standardized surveys and semi-structured qualitative interviews with approximately 20% of participants. To reduce bias, the AI-assisted art therapy was framed neutrally as a “digital platform,” protocols were standardized, honest feedback was encouraged, and digital literacy was included as a covariate, although blinding of participants and therapists was not feasible. At 12-week follow-up, statistical analyses (t-tests, ANCOVA, ANOVA) showed the AI-assisted group had significantly greater reductions in anxiety (t = −4.01, p = 0.00026, d = 0.55) and PTSD (t = −3.29, p = 0.0021, d = 0.62), while no significant difference was observed in positive affect (t = 0.74, p = 0.461, d = 0.12). Qualitative coding analyses revealed themes of AI’s perceived empathy, adaptability, and enhanced engagement, though participants also valued the emotional warmth of human therapists.
Outcomes and Implications
Art therapy fosters psychological healing by reducing trauma and depression symptoms, and enhancing resilience. But limited access, variable training, and lack of standardized approaches constrain its reach. This study suggests that AI-assisted art therapy can address these gaps by providing a scalable support that utilizes AI’s intuitive empathic interfaces (using Gross’s emotion regulation model) to detect emotional cues in artwork, prompting adaptive adjustments and employing CBT prompts to encourage cognitive reappraisal. AI-assisted art therapy may expand access to nonverbal, creative therapies in rehabilitation, occupational health, and behavioral medicine. With appropriate training and ethical data governance, AI platforms could optimize resource and access to art therapy. However, limitations include single-site recruitment and potential biases from nonblinding; to account for this, future research should explore more diverse populations, pilot longer interventions, and pre-assess AI attitudes to mitigate biases.