AI, Ethics, and Psychiatry

Tuomas Vesterinen
Stanford University

Stevenson 1300
12:00 PM

Researchers in psychiatry increasingly believe that artificial intelligence (AI) can uncover the complex pathological processes of mental disorders. They hope this will advance precision psychiatry through personalized diagnoses and treatments. However, current AI research tends to adopt a biologically focused view of disorders, which overlooks how psychiatric conditions are shaped by social and cultural factors, and how their classifications are laden with values. I argue that if these factors are not addressed, they may lead to unintended ethical and social implications due to the specific nature of AI systems. AI raises concerns regarding the human-AI therapeutic relationship, ambiguity of responsibility, and epistemic injustices, particularly the issue of trusting AI more than service users. Additionally, the influence of datafication risks neglecting uncommon symptoms and experiences of mental disorders, resulting in an oversimplified understanding of these conditions. To mitigate these challenges, I argue for a shift from narrowly focusing on precision to a socially just approach to AI. This approach should involve all stakeholders in evaluating the ethical and social implications of AI in psychiatry, emphasizing value-sensitive design and domain relativity of classifications.