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Lei Huang, University of Turin, ItalyAbstract
Artificial intelligence (AI) has become increasingly central to mental health services, offering scalable, accessible, and data-driven forms of psychological support. Yet, as algorithms enter spaces of human vulnerability and care, fundamental questions arise about their cultural adequacy, emotional authenticity, and ethical implications. This working paper outlines the framework for an ongoing clinical ethnographic study developed within the PASSI@Unito project at the University of Turin, a program providing intercultural psychological counselling for international students. The study investigates how AI-based counselling tools, such as chatbots and mood-tracking applications, shape experiences of distress, empathy, and belonging, and how culturally mediated human counselling restores meaning where algorithmic understanding fails. Drawing on preliminary case material and established theoretical traditions in anthropology, psychology, and ethics of care, the project proposes a hybrid model of counselling in which digital systems facilitate access while human mediation sustains interpretation and relational depth. The research aims to contribute both conceptually and practically to the development of culturally responsive, ethically grounded digital mental-health infrastructures.
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Conference: BCE2025Stream: Mind
This paper is part of the BCE2025 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Huang L. (2025) The Limits and Potentials of AI in Culturally Mediated Psychological Counseling: Insights From the PASSI@Unito Project ISSN: 2435-9467 – The Barcelona Conference on Education 2025: Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 131-137) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2435-9467.2025.11
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2435-9467.2025.11
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