Vermont Passes Chatbot Mental Health Law That Raises Questions About Therapists Rubber-Stamping AI Advice
New AI mental health law by Vermont raises the question of therapists possibly rubber-stamping AI. getty In today‘s column, I examine a new law in Vermont regarding the use of AI for mental health advisement. Overall, the law is generally on par with many other states that have enacted similar laws. There aren’t any especially unusual conditions or extraordinary requirements. That being said, the Vermont law is a handy vehicle for considering a frequent and potentially challenging stipulation in these budding state-level laws about the oversight of AI for mental health. The key indication in most of these laws is that a therapist or mental health professional must be somewhere “in the loop” and serve as a reviewer and potential approver of any mental health recommendations or similar outputs from the AI. On the face of things, this makes sense. A professional therapist will presumably catch the AI in providing untoward or misguided mental health advice to users. One worry is that therapists performing this oversight role will potentially fall into a classic trap, namely, they will begin rubber-stamping whatever the AI says. This is quite possible and usually due to the therapist being lulled into believing that the AI is always right, plus