The NHS Alliance welcomes BPS’s findings into AI use to support mental health

Responding to the British Psychological Society’s survey on rising AI use among mental health patients, Alex Stewart, assistant director of the mental health network at the NHS Alliance, said:

“We welcome these important findings which can help us to understand the concerns of clinicians who are seeing the impact of extensive AI use in people accessing mental health support.

“However, more research is needed to understand how people, including those with serious mental illness, are using AI to support their mental health and what needs to be done to ensure AI is used safely and responsibly. We have fed into the work being carried out by the charity Mind’s Mental Health in the Age of AI commission which is exploring this topic in more detail. With mental health providers asking for more support in how to safely use AI in their organisations and services, our recent report "Demystifying AI in mental health" set outs guidance to help them with this.

“The upcoming cross government mental health strategy is an opportunity to set out how digital and AI can be used to support people to access accurate, timely and appropriate mental health support. We need a collaborative effort from all parts of society to mitigate the harms of AI whilst harnessing its potential for positive impact.”