It was my pleasure to give a talk on Digital AI Twins for Mental Health Therapists at IEEE Standards Association | IEEE SA Regulating AI in Digital Mental Health Forum in London. This event united legal experts, regulators, technologists, and digital mental health professionals from across the globe, showcasing a multidisciplinary approach to this urgent issue. Thank you Becky Inkster and Maria Palombini, MBA for pulling such a wonderful programme together!
In my talk, I introduced the work we're doing at Affiniti AI (Techstars '23) on building Digital AI Twins of Therapists. I explored how these technologies can bridge the gap between the demand for mental health services and the availability of professional care and how we may go about regulating such technology. Here are some of my key points and takeaways:
🌱 Supporting SMEs in Regulation: Regulatory frameworks need to consider the innovation capacity of SMEs. Tools like digital regulation toolkits and testbeds are critical for nurturing startup innovation in this space.
📚 Open Source Resources for Safety: Proposals like Becky Inkster's for an open-source library of keywords and phrases indicative of suicidal, self-harm, abuse related topics for testing AI models are a big step in the right direction. Such resources can democratise safe AI innovation, ensuring startups can contribute to the field responsibly.
🤝 Collaboration with Regulators: Early engagement with regulators is crucial. This ensures AI products satisfy the rigorous requirements for medical device approval, prioritising patient safety and clinical efficacy.
💡 Innovation vs. Speed: The domain of mental health requires thoughtful, patient-centric innovation, rather than a 'move fast and break things' approach.
Discover our mission and journey towards helping mental health professionals scale their expertise through AI at www.affiniti.ai.
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