This story mentions suicide. If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, call or text the suicide prevention lifeline at 988.  A Kentucky bill aimed at keeping mental health therapy between humans passed the house 88-7 Monday.  House Bill 455 bars the use of artificial intelligence 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.  Limits on artificial intelligence in mental health therapy win OK from legislative panel 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.”  That edit came from Rep. Lisa Willner, D-Louisville. On the House floor she said the change “still allows therapists the flexibility to use AI as useful clinical tools. It’s still them using it as a tool, not relegating the therapeutic process to an AI bot.”  The legislation is about “preserving the relationship between the therapist and the client, human to human,” said Willner, who is also a psychologist. “How critically important that is for the therapeutic process. We know how important these guardrails are. We’ve all seen and heard and read horror stories where therapy bots have led clients to some very dark — and sometimes deadly — places.”  The bill can now go to the Senate for consideration. Should Kentucky enact a law along these lines, the state would join others that have banned or regulated the way artificial intelligence can operate.  GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE The post KY House advances ‘guardrails’ for artificial intelligence in mental health therapy appeared first on The Lexington Times. ...read more read less