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Nicole Smith-Perez, a therapist in Virginia who counsels patients both in person and online, told me that therapy is inherently personal, in part because it encompasses all of one’s identity. “People often feel intimidated by therapy, and talking to a bot can be seen as a way to bypass all that,” she said. But Smith-Perez often connects with clients who are women of color by drawing on her own lived experiences as a Black woman. “A.I. can try to fake it, but it will never be the same,” she said. “A.I. doesn’t live, and it doesn’t have experiences.”