The Implications of Embodied Artificial Intelligence in Mental Healthcare for Digital Wellbeing

Embodied artificial intelligence (AI) has increasing clinical relevance for therapeutic applications in mental health services. Artificially intelligent virtual and robotic agents are progressively conducting more high-level therapeutic interventions that used to be offered solely by highly trained, skilled health professionals. Such interventions, ranging from ‘virtual psychotherapists’ to social robots in dementia care and autism disorder, to robots for sexual disorders, carry with them the hope of improving quality of care and controlling expenditure, as well as reaching underserved populations in need of mental health services and improving life opportunities for vulnerable groups. However, there is a persistent gap between current, rapid developments in AI mental health and the successful adoption of these tools into clinical environments by health professionals and patients. In addition, interventions are often designed without any explicit ethical considerations. At present, the quality of research on embodied AI in psychiatry, psychology, and psychotherapy is varied, and there is a marked need for more robust studies, including randomized controlled trials on the benefits and potential harms of current and future applications. While embodied AI is a promising approach across the field of mental health, continued research will be necessary to address the broader ethical and societal concerns of these technologies, and to identify best research and medical practices in this innovative field of mental health care.