Digital Mental Health: The Impact of Artificial Intelligence

Digital mental health tools have burgeoned in number and popularity since the pandemic. The addition of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based elements to these tools has led to many exciting research paths of investigation, clinical applications, as well as swift integration into widely-used digital tools and online apps. AI has been applied to diagnosis and prognosis (speech/text/behavioral signal processing), continuous monitoring (smartphone and sensor data), and automated delivery of therapeutic content including AI-driven conversational agents (chatbots) and adaptive digital psychotherapies. Society is at the beginning of a transition to AI ubiquity, which has great promise for expanding access to and improving mental health care, but also the potential for harm if not implemented and regulated responsibly.

In this rapidly-changing environment, mental health clinicians must stay current with the state of the field, decide whether and how to use these tools in their own practices, and responsibly advise their patients who may already be using them in their daily lives.  

Our series will delve into these issues with leaders in the field of AI and mental health. We'll explore the current landscape of the field, applications for suicide prevention, measurement-based care, implementation of AI tools in health systems, and the role of chatbots that are already providing emotional support for many adults and teens.

Join us to boost your knowledge and skills in this important and rapidly-developing field. We welcome mental health clinicians, researchers, administrators, and others interested in a state-of-the-art update.