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A strike by therapists spotlights a growing concern: AI replacing human providers

NPR | By Rhitu Chatterjee
Published March 19, 2026 at 4:03 PM EDT

This week, more than 2,000 mental health care workers at Kaiser Permanente, in northern California went on a 24-hour-strike. A major reason is disagreement between Kaiser and therapists over the future role of AI in mental health care.

Copyright 2026 NPR
Rhitu Chatterjee
Rhitu Chatterjee is a health correspondent with NPR, with a focus on mental health. In addition to writing about the latest developments in psychology and psychiatry, she reports on the prevalence of different mental illnesses and new developments in treatments.
See stories by Rhitu Chatterjee