• Work will commence in September, with publication expected in December 2024
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Demand for mental health services is rising, particularly amongst young people. Mental health services in England received a record 5 million referrals during 2023. AI has challenges in exacerbating mental health conditions, such as AI algorithms increasing the risk of addictions and depression, and opportunities in aiding mental health services, such as AI wearable devices collecting and interpreting biodata, such as sleeping patterns, and computer vision helping to understand non-verbal cues, such as facial expressions, that could assess risks and diagnose conditions.

This POSTnote will outline current opportunities for AI tools to aid mental health, such as diagnosing conditions and therapy chatbots. It will also identify the ethical and health concerns around using AI in mental health services, such as a lack of regulations, how personal data would be managed, biased algorithms perpetuating social prejudice, and a lack of evidence on benefits.

The POSTnote will also discuss evidence around mental health impacts of AI usage, such as algorithms perpetuating risks of addictions, depression, loneliness and self-harm, and generative AI exacerbating cyber-bullying and harassment, leading to distress for individuals.

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