The CAI Report
Insights and Commentary at the Intersection of Psychoanalysis and AI
President’s Commission on Artificial Intelligence (CAI)
Todd Essig, PhD + Amy Levy, PsyD | Co-Chairs
The CAI Report
Alexander Stein, PhD | Editor-in-Chief
The CAI Report is a publication of The American Psychoanalytic Association’s President’s Commission on Artificial Intelligence and offers psychoanalytic perspectives on issues involving AI’s uses, applications, risks, and benefits to individuals and in society. Our aim is that The Report will meaningfully contribute to the global conversations about the human and social dimensions of AI, and be a trusted resource for mental health professionals, technology professionals, and the general public.
The APsA President’s Commission on Artificial Intelligence (CAI) supports and leads efforts across the organization to address the impact of AI on psychoanalytic care, education, theory, and professional life. It also considers AI’s broader cultural effects, including transformations of self-experience, intimate relationships, and human desire. Through active study and project development, the CAI works to respond nimbly to rapid change, helping to ensure that psychoanalysis remains vital and responsive in the emerging AI age.
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Issue 8 | November 2025
From the Editor
by Alexander Stein, PhDA Note from the Co-Chairs of the President’s Commission on Artificial Intelligence
by Todd Essig, PhD + Amy Levy, PsyDDear Dr. Danielle (a psychoanalyst answers your questions about human-AI relations)
Not a Bot
by Danielle Knafo, PhDA Memory of Memories (an AI short film) 2025
by Luca BabiniThe Great Illusionist and the Digital Double: Psychoanalytic Reflections on Artificial Intelligence in the Advent of a Hyperbolic Reality
by Filipe Leão Miranda and Joana PizarroGenAI’s Promethean Paradox
by Brett T. T. Macfarlane
Issue 7 | October 2025
Special Issue: Humans, Minds, and Brains: A Trialogue at the Edge of AI Possibility
From the Editor
by Alexander Stein, PhDA Note from the Co-Chairs of the President’s Commission on Artificial Intelligence
by Todd Essig, PhD + Amy Levy, PsyDIntroduction
by Jean Petrucelli and Sarah SchoenAbout this Special Issue
by Todd Essig, PhDReverence & Irreverence
by Amy Levy, PsyDDoes Your Bot Give a Damn? A Brief Neuropsychoanalytic Perspective on LLMs
by Fred Gioia, MDYou’re Already an AI Revolutionary! But On Whose Side?
by Todd Essig, PhDResponse to Drs Essig and Gioia
by Amy Levy, PsyDResponse to Drs Essig and Levy
by Fred Gioia, MDResponse to Drs Levy and Gioia
by Todd Essig, PhDNavigating the Threshold: An AI Entity’s Reflections on Psychoanalysis in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
generated by ChatGPT
Issue 6 | September 2025
In Memoriam Robert C Hsiung, MD
From the Editor
by Alexander Stein, PhDA Note from the Co-Chairs of the President’s Commission on Artificial Intelligence
by Todd Essig, PhD + Amy Levy, PsyDAt the Boundary of Human Intelligence and Machine Intelligence:
Having Faith (± Τεχνητὲ Νοῦ ἐλέησον [Artificial mind, have mercy])
by Robert C Hsiung, MD (in dialogue with ChatGPT)AI-Assisted Creation and the Narcissistic Predicament: A Psychoanalytic Inquiry
by Xiaomeng QiaoThe Cyber-Savvy Analyst: Meeting Adolescent Patients in Their Digital Habitat
by Danielle Knafo, PhDAI and Self-Erasure
by Richard B. Grose, PhD
Issue 5 | July 2025
From the Editor
by Alexander Stein, PhDA Note from the Co-Chairs of the Council on Artificial Intelligence
by Todd Essig, PhD + Amy Levy, PsyDDear Dr. Danielle (a psychoanalyst answers your questions about human-AI relations)
Jofi the AI/Dog Analyst
by Danielle Knafo, PhDAt the Boundary of Human Intelligence and Machine Intelligence—The AI Pandemic: One Psychoanalyst’s Loss Will Be Another Psychoanalyst’s Gain
by Robert C Hsiung, MD (in dialogue with ChatGPT)AI 2027: Through a Psychoanalytic Lens
by Karyne E. Messina, EdDAfter the Symposium: Clinical, Ethical, and Existential Replies to the Q&A Generated During the APsA Online Symposium “Artificial Intelligence and our Psychoanalytic Future”
by Todd Essig, PhD + Amy Levy, PsyDYou Can’t Console a Video Clip: AI and the Metaphysics of Electronic Presence
by Marsha A. Hewitt, PhD
Issue 4 | May 2025
From the Editor
by Alexander Stein, PhDA Note from the Co-Chairs of the Council on Artificial Intelligence
by Todd Essig, PhD + Amy Levy, PsyDDear Dr. Danielle (a psychoanalyst answers your questions about human-AI relations)
Digitally Distressed Doug
by Danielle Knafo, PhDAI Educators: Enthusiasts, Entrepreneurs or Evangelists?
by Andrea C. Valente, PhDExtended Minds, Ethical Agents, and Techno-Subjectivity in the Worlds of AI
by Marsha A. Hewitt, PhDFrom Chatbots to Cyber Ops: Klein’s Theories and the Age of AI Anxiety
by Karyne E. Messina, EdDFree Association in the Age of AI
by Danielle Knafo, PhD
Issue 3 | April 2025
From the Editor
by Alexander Stein, PhDA Note from the Co-Chairs of the Council on Artificial Intelligence
by Todd Essig, PhD + Amy Levy, PsyDDear Dr. Danielle (a psychoanalyst answers your questions about human-AI relations)
Bewildered
by Danielle Knafo, PhDAre Translators Necessary? A Case Against AI
By Kenneth KronenbergFrontiers in AI & Mental Health: Research & Clinical Considerations
Are Therapy Chatbots Effective for Depression and Anxiety? A Critical Comparative Review
by Christopher Campbell, MD Candidate (Medical University of South Carolina)When Chatbots Go Awry: Could Psychoanalytic Education for AI Developers and Designers Make a Difference?
by Karyne E. Messina, EdDHIMIsphere: At the Boundary of Human Intelligence and Machine Intelligence: Broad-Spectrum Psychoanalysis and Externalized Family Systems
by Robert Hsiung, MDThe Fantasy of Machine-Assisted Authorship
by Topher Rasmussen, MSW
Issue 2 | March 2025
From the Editor
by Alexander Stein, PhDA Note from the Co-Chairs of the Council on Artificial Intelligence
by Todd Essig, PhD + Amy Levy, PsyDUseful Reads
“I’m Not A Robot”
by Robert C Hsiung, MDDear Dr. Danielle (a psychoanalyst answers your questions about human-AI relations)
Guilty and Abashed
by Danielle Knafo, PhDFrontiers in AI & Mental Health: Research & Clinical Considerations
Dr ChatGPT? Assessing the Mental Health Care Capabilities of Chatbots
by Christopher Campbell, MD Candidate (Medical University of South Carolina)Artificial Intelligence & Psychoanalytic Research
Walking the Tight Rope: Bridging Machine Learning and Psychoanalysis
by Ilana GratchFrom the Thick of It: A Report from Fathom’s Ashby Workshops
by Todd Essig, PhDRefractions in the Digital Mirror—Using Psychoanalysis to Understand and Address AI Bias
by Karyne E. Messina, EdD
Issue 1 | January 2025
A Note from the Co-Chairs of the Council on Artificial Intelligence
by Todd Essig, PhD + Amy Levy, PsyDEditor’s Introduction: What AI Can and Can’t Do and How Psychoanalysis Can Help
by Alexander Stein, PhDUseful Reads
“Narcissistic Depressive Technoscience” by Thomas Fuchs, The New Atlantis, Spring 2024
by Todd Essig, PhDThe New Other: Alien Intelligence and The Innovation Drive
An excerpt from a forthcoming book
by Amy Levy, PsyDLeveraging AI for Suicide Risk Prediction
Frontiers in AI & Mental Health: Research & Clinical Considerations
by Christopher Campbell, MD Candidate (Medical University of South Carolina)Artificial Intelligence and Actual Psychoanalysis
Commentary on a CAI Workshop
by Valerie Frankfeldt, PhD
THE AMERICAN PSYCHOANALYTIC ASSOCIATION
President
DANIEL W. PREZANT
President-Elect
BONNIE J. BUCHELE
Secretary
CAROLINE M. SEHON
Treasurer
JULIO G. CALDERON
Executive Director
THOMAS H. NEWMAN
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Copyright © 2025 The American Psychoanalytic Association. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of the American Psychoanalytic Association.
The American Psychoanalytic Association does not hold itself responsible for statements made by contributors in The CAI Report. Unless otherwise stated, content in The CAI Report does not reflect the endorsement, official attitude, or position of the American Psychoanalytic Association
