As AI becomes increasingly ubiquitous, more and more people are turning to chatbots to talk about their emotions, their relationships, and their mental health. But
since AI bots haven't actually been properly trained in therapeutic interventions, this is like a trainwreck waiting to happen. That's especially true in
crisis or life-and-death situations, which AI cannot be trusted to handle.
Luckily, individual U.S. states are taking action to protect the public - starting in
Illinois. The governor there, JB Pritzker, approved the first law in the country to
regulate how AI can be used when it comes to mental health services.
Sign the petition to demand more U.S. states to pass similar legislation!As Illinois State Representative Bob Morgan said, "We have already heard the horror stories when artificial intelligence pretends to be a licensed therapist. Individuals in crisis unknowingly turned to AI for help and were pushed toward dangerous, even lethal, behaviors."
That's why the Wellness and Oversight for Psychological Resources Act was
passed unanimously - without a single dissenting vote - in both the state House and Senate, showing incredible bipartisan agreement. This act ensures that only
licensed, trained, vetted professionals are able to offer psychotherapy services - banning AI chatbots or similar tools from exclusively fulfilling that role on their own.
It also helps to protect patients by ensuring that mental health professionals follow certain privacy and safety rules when using AI in their work, restricting the use of AI only to administrative tasks rather than counseling services. Therapists or tech companies who violate these rules would be fined up to $10,000 per violation.
Since Trump announced his AI Action Plan would seek to ban any U.S. states from regulating AI for 10 years, it's even more important that states act quickly and find creative ways to regulate important, life-saving professions like mental health while they still can.
Mental health isn't something we can mess around with. This is about safety. The stakes are simply too high to allow unlicensed, untrained, unaccountable chatbots to be taking charge.
Sign the petition to demand that U.S. states take action to protect their residents' health and well-being by ensuring mental health care is handled by trained, licensed experts!