Artificial Intelligence as a Feedback Teammate for Treatment Delivery: Cognitive Behavioral Therapists’ Hopes and Fears

In response to the gap in mental healthcare access, research across multiple disciplines has increasingly considered the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in mental health work. Despite the important role of clinicians in this discussion, relatively little attention has been given to their perspectives. To better understand clinicians’ views within a therapy that is better suited for integration with AI than others, we conduct a qualitative survey of 84 self-identified cognitive behavioral therapy practitioners. We focus on clinicians’ reactions to a specific form of AI teammate that is designed to serve as a bidirectional feedback partner in clinical settings. We find that though respondents are concerned about a diverse range of potential issues (e.g. maintaining confidentiality and privacy, receiving poor feedback), they are also optimistic about certain features and possible outcomes of the teammate (e.g. helping to alleviate the time commitment of supervising trainees). Our findings inform future research on AI teammates in mental health.