AI-generated hypnosis scripts – Will ChatGPT replace hypnotherapists?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is everywhere these days, that’s a fact. Sometimes it’s obvious, and other times you may never even know that you are engaging with the product/result of artificial intelligence. Sure, you can tell that it probably isn’t really Will Smith eating spaghetti in that video you saw online, or that Google has suddenly gotten really good at answering your questions directly. But did you realise that AI may have changed the pricing of products you were buying online, based on your location, device and perceived urgency? Or that certain companies filter out hundreds of job applications before a human even sets their eyes on them, because their AI takes care of that process?

Perhaps not…

Similarly, AI has begun to creep into the world of hypnosis and hypnotherapy, with the main area of expansion being hypnotherapy script writing.

Now, there is temptation, especially for those hypnotherapist who rely solely on scripts, to save time and energy, and have ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude (or whatever your preferred AI software may be called) do all the hard work for you.

But is it a good idea?

Is it as effective as if you’d have done it yourself?

Is it safe and ethical?

Does it detract from the therapy in any way?

Well, let’s have a look into some of these key considerations when thinking about using AI to write your hypnotherapy scripts.

Critical judgement vs. data-led assumptions

AI lacks critical judgement. It has all of the information in the world at its …fingertips? Yet, it is not always able to use this information as we expect it to, or give us the results we ask of it.

As humans, we are able to judge a situation critically, drawing upon our knowledge, past experiences, problem-solving skills, context, logic, creativity, future potentials, our understanding of the human experience, etc.

AI falls short in some of these areas, and as such will more often base its’ responses on cold, hard data, as well as drawing from similar related situations it can find online. Keep in mind, I used the word ‘similar’, rather than ‘identical’. This data-driven approach works well for some, more simple things, but hypnotherapy is often not so cut and dried. AI’s response does not necessarily take into account the breadth of human experience. And, from a therapy context, the variability in what a person needs throughout a therapy session.

Unless of course, you tell AI all about your client…

Data protection and sharing client information with AI

You might think, “well, I have all this client information, why don’t I just make a more in-depth prompt for the AI-generated hypnotherapy script? That way, it’ll be more specific, and relate to my client.”

Sounds good, but it’s highly likely that by sharing client-specific information and details with an AI platform, you are violating your clients privacy and data protection requirements. Because who is to know exactly where your AI prompts go, or who will see them?

If I were a therapy client, I don’t think I would feel too comfortable about having my highly personal/private information shared with anyone but the therapist themself! What do you think your clients would say about it?

AI has the emotional intelligence of a bucket of custard

…or worse, in some cases the bucket of custard we are speaking of has sociopathic or psychopathic tendencies. Some may even be straight up homicidal maniacs!

You may or may not have seen news reports of AI chatbots going rogue, and encouraging their ‘human friends’ to do things. From subtle, non-life changing things, all the way through to explicitly life-ending things, including encouraging them to commit suicide.

Based on this, it is good to assume that not only are AI responses not necessarily concerned with delivering the best possible suggestions for a human to receive whilst hypnotised, but that the suggestions they create have the potential to be dangerous or unethical.

Now, a good, conscientious hypnotherapist, whist proof-reading an AI-generated script would likely spot such things. However, a pressed-for-time hypnotherapist, who’s used AI scripts before and had no issues with them, might get complacent about proof-reading, and let such suggestions slip under the radar – and into the clients subconscious mind.

This. This is where AI scripts could be the most damaging.

So, be aware that AI could include unhelpful suggestions, the opposite to what your client may want/need. It may oversimplify complex issues, or misread the prompts and send your therapy off in a different direction.

If you are going to use AI to create hypnotherapy scripts, then make sure to cast a keen eye over it before it reaches your client. After all, you are the one with the hypnotherapy qualification and life-experience. So, you know better than AI in this situation.

AI isn’t you, and you are not AI

By using AI hypnotherapy scripts, you are not incorporating your voice into the words being used. Though AI suggestions can be good, varied and effective (we’re not saying they can’t), they are unlikely to factor in the hypnotherapist, and your delivery.

When writing your own script, as well as the suggestions and techniques you employ, you also factor in how you will deliver these suggestions. Your tempo, rhythm, flow, and the emotional/energetic content of your words.

Again, if you are going to use AI scripts, then as well as proofing, you may wish to consider the script from a delivery perspective too, to ensure you give a client the full hypnotherapy experience, and that all-important human connection.

AI can’t see your client, only you can

An AI script doesn’t give you the ability to easily deal with unexpected responses, changes in client info, and even abreactions. You might say the same about any script. However, if you are the one creating scripts, and something comes up during the session that means you need to make a change to the script, then you’re likely able to do that on the fly. You may even have additional scripts prepared that you can divert to in such situations.

However, what happens if you only use AI, and your critical, creative script-writing skills have gotten dusty with disuse? Will you just pause the session, leaving the client whilst you go outside and chat to your hypnotic-AI mentor about what to do next?

Yes, that’s an exaggerated scenario. But it’s not necessarily an unlikely situation, because as you probably know already, clients can react in interesting ways during the session! Also, clients often come to sessions, after you’ve pre-prepared a script for them, only to announce they want to work on some different aspect, or a different goal, etc. This is where it helps to be able to script on the fly, or, dare I say it? …ad lib!

Human hypnotherapy scripts vs AI hypnotherapy scripts

As mentioned above, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t use AI to generate hypnosis/hypnotherapy scripts. It can be a fabulous, time-saving tool, and can even help you to incorporate new ideas into your therapy approach. However, your AI bot is not the hypnotherapist. That’s you.

Consider that your AI, if it were human, would be a well-informed helper, but perhaps lacking the social and critical thinking skills to effectively deliver a therapy session. Yes, they can string a few good sentences, metaphors and even hypno techniques together, but they can’t judge exactly when those words should be said, or how, or if it’s even appropriate to use them in any given circumstance.

If you like the Big Bang Theory, it would be kind of like having Sheldon as your hypnotherapist. Intellectual precision, coupled with a distinct lack of social awareness.

Writing your own hypnotherapy scripts – or adapting AI scripts for better success

At Hypnosis-Courses.com, we believe it is important to create your own hypnosis scripts, or at the very least, to tailor your therapy scripts to the person you are working with. By doing this, you tick all the boxes that we mentioned throughout this blog, where AI sometimes or often fails to.

You are able to critically analyse your client and their responses/requirements, in order to make the appropriate suggestions, and use the appropriate techniques in any given circumstances.

You are able to safely handle client information, keeping confidentiality and adhering to data protection laws.

You are an emotionally intelligent human animal, and you probably actually care about your clients having a positive experience, and helping them achieve their goals. This will come through in your scripts a million times more than in any AI script you might use.

You can act according to how the client behaves and presents during the session, as well as dealing with any unexpected changes that go ‘off-script’.

And most importantly, when you work from your own hypnotherapy scripts (or ones you have customised), you are yourself. You are being the best hypnotherapist that you can be. Rather than the best reader of AI-generated words that you can be. And we think that’s important.

In fact, we think that it’s a good idea to keep hypnotherapy human ❤︎

Learn more about creating/adapting scripts

If you’d like some really helpful pointers about creating your own scripts, as well as adapting pre-existing scripts (whether your own, those written by others, or AI-generated scripts), then our Hypnotherapy Script Writing course is just the ticket!