Human Development

Jul 28, 2026 Anne Lepetit

A new survey conducted by AXA and Ipsos shows that people are readily turning to AI chatbots to cope with mental-health problems. To ensure that these tools do more good than harm, health leaders, employers, insurers, and AI developers must take responsibility for steering them in a beneficial direction.

PARIS—Ask someone today whom they turn to when feeling anxious or struggling to sleep, and increasingly the answer is a chatbot, not a friend or a doctor. In a survey of 19,000 adults across 18 countries that AXA conducted with Ipsos earlier this year, 61% of respondents said that they use AI for mental-health matters, with the share rising to more than 80% in some Asian countries. This implies that, for a significant segment of the global population, AI is a viable psychological-support tool.