Family caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementia (AD/ADRD) face significant emotional and logistical challenges that place them at heightened risk for stress, anxiety, and depression. Although recent advances in generative AI -- particularly large language models (LLMs) -- offer new opportunities to support mental health, little is known about how caregivers perceive and engage with such technologies. To address this gap, we developed Carey, a GPT-4o-based chatbot designed to provide informational and emotional support to AD/ADRD caregivers. Using Carey as a technology probe, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 16 family caregivers following scenario-driven interactions grounded in common caregiving stressors. Through inductive coding and reflexive thematic analysis, we surface a systemic understanding of caregiver needs and expectations across six themes: on-demand information access, safe space for disclosure, emotional support, crisis management, personalization, and data privacy. For each of these themes, we also identified the nuanced tensions in the caregivers' desires and concerns. We present a mapping of caregiver needs, AI chatbots' strengths, gaps, and design recommendations. Our findings offer theoretical and practical insights to inform the design of proactive, trustworthy, and caregiver-centered AI systems that better support the evolving mental health needs of AD/ADRD caregivers.

翻译：阿尔茨海默病及相关痴呆症（AD/ADRD）患者的家庭照护者面临显著的情感和后勤挑战，这使其处于压力、焦虑和抑郁的高风险之中。尽管生成式AI的最新进展——尤其是大语言模型（LLMs）——为支持心理健康提供了新的机遇，但关于照护者如何感知和与这类技术互动的研究仍然不足。为弥补这一空白，我们开发了Carey，一个基于GPT-4o的聊天机器人，旨在为AD/ADRD照护者提供信息与情感支持。以Carey作为技术探针，我们基于常见照护压力源驱动的场景互动，对16名家庭照护者进行了半结构化访谈。通过归纳编码和反思性主题分析，我们系统性地揭示了照护者的需求与期望，涵盖六个主题：按需信息获取、安全倾诉空间、情感支持、危机管理、个性化以及数据隐私。针对每个主题，我们还识别了照护者愿望与担忧中存在的细微张力。我们呈现了照护者需求、AI聊天机器人优势、不足及设计建议的映射关系。研究结果为设计主动、可信且以照护者为中心的AI系统提供了理论和实践见解，以更好地支持AD/ADRD照护者不断变化的心理健康需求。