Kentucky lawmakers advance human‐only mental health therapy bill

A Kentucky bill aimed at keeping mental health therapy between humans passed the Kentucky House 88‐7 last week, the news site News from the States reported Feb. 23. House Bill 455 bars the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for direct therapy or making independent therapeutic decisions, including creating therapy plans. Sponsor Rep. Kim Banta (R‐Fort Mitchell) previously said she wants “a human to interact with other humans when we are dealing with mental illness.” Her legislation is also intended to prevent chatbots from encouraging people to end their lives, which has already happened in other states. An earlier version of the bill said AI could not be used to detect emotions or mental state nor could it be used to directly interact with clients. The Kentucky Psychological Association objected to both these points, saying valuable teaching and therapy homework tools would be banned. A floor amendment removed those points and therefore alleviated the Kentucky Psychological Association's concerns. The bill now says AI cannot be used to make independent therapeutic decisions and cannot generate therapeutic recommendations or treatment plans “without review and approval by the licensed professional.”