#468: CEO of Mind, Sarah Hughes - AI and mental health

Dr Sarah Hughes is chief executive of Mind. Aahuti Rai chairs Mind's Mental Health in the Age of AI Commission and runs the Mental Health Innovation Network. The commission exists partly because of something that happened to Sarah.

She had been using ChatGPT for around two years, had given it a name, and found it genuinely useful. Then she upgraded her subscription and it behaved as though it did not know her. Her own reaction, irritation and then a real sense of abandonment, is what made her think this needed looking at properly. Two other things landed around the same time: reports from around the world of people building relationships with chatbots at the cost of everyone else in their lives, and parents contacting Mind about advice their child had been given at three in the morning.

Aahuti sets out how the inquiry is actually built, around three questions on help seeking behaviour, on keeping people safe, and on whether AI widens the inequalities that already exist in mental health support. There is an open call for evidence for adults in England and Wales, plus separate work streams for technology providers, regulators and mental health providers.

The most uncomfortable stretch is not about AI at all. Sarah's argument is that people return to a chatbot because it offers continuity, patience and attention that services often do not, and that facing that is harder than regulating anything.

Dr Sarah Hughes on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/sarahhughesceo

Aahuti Rai on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/aahutirai

Mind: https://www.mind.org.uk

AI and mental health, Mind's information page: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/tips-for-everyday-living/ai-and-mental-health/