Perspectives on the Benefits, Concerns, and Requirements Associated with the Implementation of AI Chatbots for Mental Health Support: A Multi-Stakeholder Qualitative Survey

AI chatbots are rapidly being considered and increasingly used for mental health support by professionals, patients, and others. As the utility, advantages, as well ask ethical risks of AI chatbots vary per stakeholder, we sought to explore attitudes toward the applications, benefits, concerns of, and requirements for AI chatbots use for mental health support among different key stakeholders. We conducted a multi-stakeholder qualitative survey with three groups: mental health patients (n=40), potential users (n=48), and mental health professionals (n=32). The different groups listed very similar benefits and concerns of AI chatbots use. The survey revealed unique themes such as the value of maintaining human-human interaction in therapy. Autonomy, often highlighted as a core ethical principle in AI, was not strongly emphasized by respondents. Future research should examine how users engage with AI chatbots in practice, and how guidance should be developed in response to this rapidly changing technology.