Exploring the Ethical Challenges of Conversational AI in Mental Health Care (2 credit hours)

Program Summary:  This course explores the ethical challenges of conversational AI in mental health care.  The course highlights a literature review and identifies 10 main ethical themes:  safety and harm; explicability, transparency, and trust; responsibility and accountability; empathy and humanness; justice; anthropomorphization and deception; autonomy; privacy and confidentiality; and effectiveness.  A bioethical framework is utilized to discuss findings.  Recommendations are offered.

This course is recommended for social workers and is appropriate for beginning and intermediate levels of practice.  This course is not recommended for NBCC ethics credit.

Reading :  Exploring the Ethical Challenges of Conversational AI in Mental Health Care:  A Scoping Review Authors:  Mehrdad Rahsepar Meadi, MA, MD; Tomas Sillekens, MD; Suzanne Metselaar, PhD; Anton van Balkom, MD, PhD; Justin Bernstein, PhD; Neeltje Batelaan, MD, Phd Publisher: JMIR Mental Health

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Course Objectives:  To enhance professional practice, values, skills and knowledge by exploring the ethical challenges of conversational AI in mental health care.

Learning Objectives:  Identify the potential benefits of conversational AI in mental healthcare.  Identify the ethical challenges of conversational AI in mental healthcare.  Describe benefits and concerns through the lens of the four bioethical principles.

Course Available Until: February 28, 2030.

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1: Safety and Harm// CAI presenting false information as true, even sometimes citing nonexisting clinical studies describes
 
 
 
 
2: Safety and Harm// The opacity of how algorithms work describes
 
 
 
 
3: Safety and Harm// The black box problem improves as computational complexity increases.
 
 
4: Responsibility and Accountability// The question of 'Who should be responsible for the decision of CAI?' describes
 
 
 
 
5: Responsibility and Accountability// The accountability of providers of commercially offered chatbots is regulated by professional codes of ethics and laws.
 
 
6: Responsibility and Accountability// Some critique commercial CAI for placing undue emphasis on __________ for mental well-being
 
 
7: Concerns related to bias, inequalities, fairness, and discrimination best describe which theme?
 
 
 
 
8: The attribution of human agency or characteristics to a nonhuman entity describes
 
 
 
 
9: Anthropomorphization and Deception// Even if a CAI is disclosed as a machine, some patients may still believe that there is a person or malevolent force behind it.
 
 
10: Privacy and Confidentiality// Current health care confidentiality laws do not cover
 
 
 
11: Effectiveness// For consumers, it is easy to see which CAI is based on sound scientific evidence.
 
 
12: Effectiveness// Martinez-Martin and Kreitmair worried about a 'commercialization gap,' where apps developed by clinical researchers undergo more rigorous effectiveness testing, and commercial parties are more focused on
 
 
 
 
13: Effectiveness// Assuming that CAI can accurately track users' feelings, moods, and behaviors describes the
 
 
 
 
14: The constant availability of CAI, which could potentially lead to overdependence and social isolation is an example of a concern related to which bioethical principle?
 
 
 
 
15: CAI's opaque algorithms and lack of transparency are concerns related to which bioethical principle?
 
 
 
 

In order to purchase or take this course, you will need to log in. If you do not have an account, you will need to register for a free account.

After you log in, a link will appear here that will allow you to purchase this course.

Review our pre-reading study guide.

G.M. Rydberg-Cox, MSW, LSCSW is the Continuing Education Director at Free State Social Work and responsible for the development of this course.  She received her Masters of Social Work in 1996 from the Jane Addams School of Social Work at the University of Illinois-Chicago and she has over 20 years of experience.  She has lived and worked as a social worker in Chicago, Boston, and Kansas City.  She has practiced for many years in the area of hospital/medical social work.  The reading materials for this course were developed by another organization.

Course Available Until: February 28, 2030.
Filed under: Ethics, Technology