The integration of AI in behavioral health is set to transform the field, offering tremendous benefits, but it also raises an important question: Are these changes ethical?

The ethical concerns surrounding AI-enhanced session notes reflect those faced by practitioners daily, including:

Data Security and Confidentiality: Ensuring that client information remains secure is paramount, as AI systems often process sensitive data.

Understanding AI’s Science and Algorithms: Practitioners must be knowledgeable about the underlying algorithms and research that inform AI tools to ensure they are used responsibly.

Maintaining Informed Consent: Patients need to be fully aware of AI’s role in their treatment, and practitioners must ensure that consent is informed and transparent.

Practitioner Oversight: Therapists must retain control over the therapeutic process, ensuring that AI does not lead to misdiagnoses or a diminished human role. Overreliance on AI could result in “client abandonment,” where patient communication is processed by AI but fails to receive appropriate human attention—potentially leading to serious consequences, such as self-harm.

Ethical considerations should also extend to the AI systems themselves. Practitioners must inquire about the ethical foundation of the AI they use, particularly the methods of data collection and machine learning. Was personal data gathered and analyzed ethically? Was the AI trained on relevant, ethically sourced data?

As with any ethical issue in behavioral health, practitioners must implement robust systems and procedures to navigate these new challenges, maintaining vigilance to avoid ethical pitfalls. Though these responsibilities are significant, they are a small price to pay for the potential advantages AI offers in enhancing session documentation and overall treatment outcomes.