| Topic | PaulsRobot | Professional Counsellor | Friends and Family |
| Human warmth and companionship | Obviously the "human element" is missing, and more self-discipline is needed from the client to get and stay in session and just keep at it. Someone with relationship difficulties might benefit far more from the warmth, respect and openness of a live counsellor, impossible here | Varies, but human counsellors usually score well on empathy | Varies, but usually one would only confide in sympathetic persons |
| Effectiveness | It seems to work well in a variety of situations, provided the client follows the instructions. This is completely contrary to expectation. It was even contrary to Paul's expectation when he was first experimenting with what became PaulsRobot | Varies, depending on the quality of both the counsellor and the style of counselling they use | Varies, but people untrained in a field tend to be less effective than professionals |
| Cost | Free of charge | Varies. Minimum wage is approx. £5 or $7 per hour, with some counsellors charging much more | Free of charge |
| Availability | 24/7. PaulsRobot is available whenever you want to schedule a session | Online real-time counselling available worldwide, but usually with prior appointment. In-person counselling depends on local situation — more difficult in rural areas. Finding a local practitioner who is qualified to deliver whatever speciality you want is sometimes difficult | Depends on what you want to say and how you say it |
| Professional affiliations | None, of course. This is a pioneer field | Varies. Many counsellors with normal counselling qualifications are members of the BACP (UK) or ACA (US) | None |
| Insurance coverage | None | Professional counsellors who are members of the BACP or ACA carry liability insurance. Whether or not a client's own insurance company will pay for the counselling varies by company and policy | None |
| Adherence to ethical codes of practice | Invariable from client to client and session to session. As decent and ethical as a bot can be. Although no Robot counsellor can be a model of glowing acceptance toward the client, neither will there ever be the slightest hint of criticism or judgment of the client, whatever the client's demeanour or self-esteem | Usually dependable | Varies. An untrained counsellor might well be a very decent person, but be completely unaware of the right thing to do in a counselling situation |
| Adherence to standard procedures, depending on what is considered standard at the time | Most PaulsRobot procedures are fresh 21st century developments. Other procedures that are designed to be Robot versions of "regular" ones (like Rogerian Therapy) are necessarily adjusted somewhat to fit into the Robot paradigm, although their character is intended to be essentially unchanged | Varies. It depends on the practitioner, as to how strictly he adheres to what is usual. And it depends on how much room there is for individual variation built into the modality concerned | No |
| Familiarity and experience with procedures unique to PaulsRobot (Core, HeavyDuty, Morph, Dipoles etc.) | 100% | Except in very rare cases, no contact at all | No |
| Session control | Shaky. There is nothing to stop the client walking out of the room | Hands-on control possible when there in person. If it is a remote session, much harder but still more positive than an automated system (can try to persuade, count on social factors etc) | Shaky. Someone untrained in counselling procedures might be very willing to help, but often would not know how to deal with a tricky situation |
| Interpretation of your responses | 100%. You are in complete control of which response option to pick | Depends on how well the counsellor understands what you say and think and feel in session | Depends on how well the person understands what you say and think and feel |
| Reliability | Highly consistent, not subject to illness, mood swings, or other work and family distractions | Varies from counsellor to counsellor | Varies, but reliability as a friend does not necessarily translate over to reliability as a counsellor |
| Interjection of distractions into session | Minor to non-existent, as Robot is not a living being | Varies with skill level (and cost) of counsellor, but more likely as counsellor is a living human being | Varies, but someone untrained as a counsellor is far more likely to "get in the way" than a professional counsellor |
| Biofeedback devices used in conjunction with specific procedures and questions, not used in isolation | None. But PaulsRobot procedures are designed to not need biofeedback and its absence is not a lack | The value of a biofeedback device depends on the skill level of the practitioner. An effective biofeedback device wielded by a real expert, who doesn't miss indications or misinterpret them, and who doesn't allow the client to have things falsely validated or suggested by biofeedback indications (or lack of them), can add significant value in a session | Not applicable |
| Social acceptability, although this depends on what sort of company you keep | Depends if you tell anyone! Very few people would accept that Robot counselling is even possible, let alone beneficial | If you are reading this, then your friends and associates are probably familiar with human practitioners of this type | One would usually only "open up" to someone likely to be sympathetic |
| Confidentiality | No personal details at all are transmitted during Robot sessions, so no secrets can be revealed. This means that however embarrassing or even unlawful the client's topic is, no hint of it can possibly leak out except via the client herself | Usually good, in line with professional codes of ethics. Note that it is mandatory for a professional counsellor to report some situations that the client reveals in session (threats of violence, child abuse, strong suicidal tendencies etc.) to appropriate authorities | Risky |
| How well will your specific wants be addressed? | You choose exactly what you want to address and when to do it. There are five entire modules (Core, HeavyDuty, Morph, BasicR3X and Psycho) that can be used to address and discharge virtually any topic | Depends on how skilled the practitioner is, and how effective the procedure(s) in use are at addressing your specific concerns | Unlikely to happen with someone not counsellor-trained. |
