AI in Mental Health: Benefits, Challenges, and Future Trends
Digital Samba
Easy video conferencing right from your browser! GDPR-compliant & encrypted.
We have already entered an exciting era of artificial intelligence, or AI, which has infiltrated almost every field of work and industry and has been widely accepted by people across the globe.
Since AI is expected to create a personal, industrial, and social shift towards new technology in the next decade, research into this topic has been on the rise.
Introduction to AI
A study from 2023 titled “What factors contribute to the acceptance of artificial intelligence? A systematic review” concluded the following: “Perceived usefulness, performance expectancy, attitudes, trust, and effort expectancy significantly and positively predicted behavioural intention, willingness, and use behaviour of AI across multiple industries. However, in some cultural scenarios, it appears that the need for human contact cannot be replicated or replaced by AI, no matter the perceived usefulness or perceived ease of use.” (Kelly et al., 2023)
This conclusion is supported by statistics: while the willingness to trust AI seems higher than the willingness to accept it (as depicted in the Statista graphic below), European countries appear to be more sceptical about using AI compared to the rest of the world, reinforcing the idea that different cultural scenarios influence the acceptance of AI.
AI in Mental Health
But what is the role of AI when it comes to the sensitive topic of behavioural health and mental health care? How can we use AI in psychology and psychiatry? How can we alleviate people's scepticism and fear of AI? Undoubtedly, this new technology has opened doors to building intelligent machines that will enhance the quality and accessibility of mental care and provide entirely new opportunities. For example, the integration of natural language processing and virtual reality has allowed for the creation of interactive, intelligent virtual humans that can provide training, consultation, and treatments.
Today, we can already identify at least 10 uses of artificial intelligence in mental health. For example, AI agent systems can assist with clinical decision-making and healthcare management (Luxton, 2016). One of the most exciting developments in AI for psychologists and psychiatrists is the use of AI chatbots for therapy and counselling services. These virtual assistants can interact with patients in real time, providing support and guidance when needed. AI chatbots can also track patients' progress and provide therapists with valuable insights that help them adjust their treatment plans accordingly.
In addition to AI chatbots, AI-driven cognitive behavioural therapy programs have revolutionised the treatment of mental health disorders. These programs use advanced algorithms to analyse patient behaviour and provide personalised interventions that lead to more effective treatment outcomes (Press, 2024).
领英推荐
Pros and Cons of AI in Psychotherapy
As with any new technological breakthrough, there are pros and cons to using artificial intelligence in mental health. While some patients find AI easier to talk to because it is always empathetic and never moody, others feel they need the human component, such as a handshake, during therapy. However, what concerns those behind these technologies even more is the safety and ethics of deploying artificial intelligence in such a sensitive field as mental health (Luxton, 2016). Therefore, ethicists are now working with mental healthcare professionals to design these systems to function ethically and meet all practical mental healthcare ethics requirements.
Another concern is privacy, as the data shared in sessions and processed or stored through technological means is often very sensitive and personal. This makes it imperative that all information transmission adheres to strict standards of privacy, security, and confidentiality (Chhabra et al., 2023). However, this creates a vicious cycle because, according to the well-known personalization-privacy paradox (Guo et al., 2016), personalised services require users to continuously provide a wide variety of sensitive personal data, which increases their concerns about privacy loss.
It seems, though, that the biggest concern regarding AI usage in mental health treatment is bias. Biased algorithms can promote discrimination or other forms of inaccurate decision-making, leading to systematic and potentially harmful errors (Abrams, 2024). Fortunately, alongside politicians and regulators, psychologists are starting to play a growing role in this discussion with their expertise in cognitive biases, cultural inclusion, and the measurement of the reliability and representativeness of big data sets and their analysis. While both algorithms and humans contribute to bias in AI, the American Psychological Association (APA) points out a positive aspect: AI may also have the power to correct or reverse human inequities. For instance, an algorithm could detect whether a company is less likely to hire or promote women and then influence leaders to adjust job ads and decision-making criteria accordingly. However, using AI to reverse bias also requires consensus on what societal changes are needed.
Future Trends
So, how much involvement should Artificial Intelligence have in psychotherapy? At Digital Samba, we love and live technology daily, and we have created our software to contribute to the growing demand for cultivating and maintaining mental health and making access to it easier. With the Digital Samba video meeting solution, we enable patients to connect virtually with psychologists, giving them the “human” option for therapy.
To keep up with AI trends and make the work of psychologists easier, we have recently introduced transcriptions and session summaries that can be easily accessed in the Digital Samba dashboard once the account is created. Even in this case, we use AI responsibly, as the providers we work with in the AI field are European companies that comply with GDPR. This feature is just the beginning of our journey to exploring how we can smartly yet responsibly employ AI for our customers in the mental health sector. We work closely with them, listening to their needs. We are cautiously following the development of AI and its use in psychology, with a desire to contribute even more to the field of online psychotherapy and make this important area of health and self-care available to all who need or want to embrace it.
At the end of the day, one thing is clear: AI is a moving target. Using it ethically will require continued dialogue as the technology grows ever more sophisticated (Abrams, 2024).
References:?
Population Health + Value Transformation Executive
4 个月A very balanced and responsible overview of the current literature, it’s very reassuring to see how your product development process is evidenced-based. Empirically, we’ve all seen the media about humans finding connections and increased well-being from generative AI. To this point, the APA has put out a: Call for papers: Generative AI as a new human relationship https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/psp/generative-ai-new-human-relationship