AUSTIN (KXAN) — You can ask an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot just about anything. It’s technology that can give you real-time answers. But what happens when this technology is used for counseling and therapy?
A Texas lawmaker proposed a bill to regulate AI in mental health services. State Rep. Nate Schatzline, R-Fort Worth, filed House Bill 1265.
The legislation outlines requirements for testing and approval of AI applications used in mental health services. It requires that people must know the services are AI-based and give consent. The bill also calls for people providing these services to be licensed professionals or a licensed professional must be available at all times.
“It needs some level of oversight, and we have to have reliability checks.”
Dr. Mike Brooks, Licensed Psychologist
Austin Psychologist Dr. Mike Brooks said he’s cautiously exploring the idea of using AI with clients.
“Just starting to work with clients on how to integrate AI into their lives, but with a lot of care,” Brooks said. “There’s got to be guard rails and kind of the do’s and don’ts and a lot of disclaimers and caveats, consents on the front end, so people know what they’re getting into.”
Brooks said AI can offer practical solutions for real-world problems.
“Whether it’s anxiety, depression, ADHD, relationship problems,” Brooks said. “Take that to the AI and say, ‘Hey, this is going on. You know, I’m wondering if you could help me with it and give me some ideas.'”
But ultimately, he stressed the importance of having a professional’s insight as well.
“When you start getting into, I don’t know, childhood trauma or something like that, there’s a lot of things that could go south with AI,” Brooks said. “I would be in favor of AI assisted therapy that has a therapist guiding, and they’re going through things together.”
When it comes to privacy protocols, Brooks said he wouldn’t ever put identifying information about a client into an AI system. Instead, he said he would give a broad example and simply ask AI to offer some of the latest research that might be helpful for that situation.
