Policy Statement on the Role of AI in the Delivery of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Care
Background
Artificial intelligence (AI), also called augmented intelligence, including machine learning and predictive analytics, offers significant opportunities to improve mental healthcare for children and adolescents, such as enhancing care quality, assisting workflows, and integrating vast data.
The application of AI in the delivery of pediatric mental health care is still in its infancy. As AI science develops, important consideration should be given to transparency related to AI in clinical decision-making, security and privacy of patient and provider data, bias in development, and equity in the application of AI-supported mental health care and data analysis across all patient populations.
To ensure effective, safe, and ethical integration of AI into child and adolescent mental health care, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry recommends:
- Development of AI systems that prioritizes transparency and equity and includes rigorous testing and validation, including end-user testing in diverse real-world settings representative of the diverse US population, and continuous improvement processes informed by expert clinician feedback.
- Physicians and health systems disclose the use of AI in patient care activities to patients and families
- Robust data collection and management processes that protect the security and privacy of health data of minors and vulnerable patients, including the ability for data anonymization/pseudonymization.
- Clear national policies that govern healthcare AI adoption and utilization to optimize safety and mitigate inequities. Special attention must be given to the risks of AI to children and adolescents.
- State and federal regulatory requirements regarding oversight, transparency, disclosure, and audits to ensure automated decision-making systems do not reduce needed care, systematically withhold it, or override clinical judgment.
- Federal and state funding for comprehensive education for clinicians at all levels to practice in AI-enabled systems, covering fundamentals, ethics, uses, opportunities, risks, and limitations
*AI assisted in the creation of this position statement.