The landscape of mental health treatment is about to change with artificial intelligence (AI-Mental Health). Whether you’re a mental health provider or someone interested in mental health services, AI is changing how treatment is delivered, what patient-centered care options are available to consumers, and how to assess the benefits of treatment. is changing. Here’s a quick glimpse of this future that is already emerging.
In the era of AI and mental health, people will soon be able to:
Customize the demographics, voice, and even personality of your AI mental health therapist. Enjoy more democratized treatment. That means lower costs for mental health care (e.g., subscription plans rather than $150 per hour treatment fees), portability, and 24/7 access to AI mental health therapists. Reduce the stigma of mental health treatment by working with AI instead of human therapists. If necessary, add AI capabilities to help people make positive changes during therapy sessions, rather than replacing human mental health therapists (i.e., AI-assisted mental health care). These features could include AI-generated summaries of therapy sessions, using AI to generate therapy content, get help and reminders about goals, and provide accountability and motivation for the days between therapy sessions. We will help you improve your skills.
Meanwhile, mental health providers can expect the following 3-4:
Low-cost mental health assistance for consumers seeking post-treatment maintenance treatment or experiencing less severe mental health symptoms (e.g., stress management and health coaching for major depressive disorder) We provide. Improve the quality and experience of mental health treatment by providing AI tools that bridge the gap between sessions with self-help tools, reminders, and therapy exercises. Increase our ability to monitor patients’ mental health symptoms and provide rapid information and self-help support to patients with increased symptoms. Collect session-to-session feedback from patients to help personalize and adjust treatment.
The future described above is neither imaginary nor far away. In fact, the first phase of this era of AI mental health treatment is already here in the form of a growing number of AI mental health apps and startups.
Currently, consumers can interact with AI mental health tools primarily through smartphone apps or computers. However, these formats have the potential to expand to include 1) AI mental health features in smart wearables (e.g., Apple Watch with AI mental health features that monitor mood through skin conductance and heart rate variability); There is. 2) Virtual reality headsets that use generative AI to create relaxation experiences and graded exposure exercises. 3) AI-enhanced smart beds (e.g., the Eight Sleep smart bed, which combines sleep monitoring technology and AI capabilities to generate personalized music, stories, and sounds for insomnia treatment); and 4) Automobiles (for example, car seats and steering wheels can monitor stress levels and use AI to provide self-help interventions, information, or generative music and video content to reduce driving stress and road rage symptoms. (can be reduced).
Even the technology we hate the most, like the dreaded scale, can become a source of motivation, personal growth, and learning when powered by the right AI capabilities. And the list above doesn’t even include some of the most promising AI mental health applications, such as personalized AI pets and robots.
The potential of AI confronts the dangers of AI
The promise and benefits of AI mental health are, of course, full of small details. For example, for many people, interacting with AI in any way will be abhorrent for reasons of mental health. Perhaps even terrifying. And the technological wonders of AI in mental health have legitimate concerns about data privacy, bad advice, inaccurate information (“AI hallucinations”), increased loneliness and social disconnection, and even addiction. Concerns continue to be reflected in the concerns (see the movie “Her” example of an AI-related dystopia) that we have seen occur on social media.
Finally, it is important to recognize that AI mental health is not yet ready to replace all aspects of human therapists. Rather, AI mental health is best equipped in the near term to assist with the technical aspects of mental health treatment. This includes providing evidence-based treatment protocols, sharing expert education and information resources, providing immediate feedback in real time, and collecting data on symptoms and treatment effectiveness.
These “technical” aspects of treatment are more likely to be replicated by AI mental health, such as trust, connection, rapport, and other “non-specific” qualities that research has shown to be very important. Complemented by the “relational” aspect of slow treatment. Achieving excellent mental health care.
Will AI mental health be able to develop a bedside manner that matches its unparalleled knowledge and procedural ability? Time will tell. And you may not have to wait long.
