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A participatory initiative to include LGBT+ voices in AI for mental health

Nature Medicine volume 29, pages 10–11 (2023)Cite this article

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Artificial intelligence (AI) can help clinicians to improve healthcare decision-making by integrating data from high-volume, heterogeneous electronic health records (EHRs). However, there is growing evidence that AI solutions in healthcare carry considerable risk of harm for people belonging to racial, ethnic, sexual and gender minority communities, which can exacerbate inequalities1,2.

The safety and fairness of AI algorithms for LGBT+ communities have so far been largely unaddressed and under-discussed2. These considerations are especially important when developing tools to support the delivery of mental healthcare, given that mental health difficulties such as self-harm and suicidal distress are more prevalent among LGBT+ people, in part because of stressors including victimization and isolation3.

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Acknowledgements

A.K. and D.W.J. were supported in part by the NIHR AI Award for Health and Social Care (AI_AWARD02183), A.K. by a research grant from GlaxoSmithKline, and D.W.J. by the NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre (grant BRC-1215-20005). The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the UK National Health Service, the NIHR, the UK Department of Health, or DeepMind.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Andrey Kormilitzin & Dan W. Joyce

  2. DeepMind, London, UK

    Nenad Tomasev & Kevin R. McKee

  3. Institute of Population Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK

    Dan W. Joyce

Authors
  1. Andrey Kormilitzin
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  2. Nenad Tomasev
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  3. Kevin R. McKee
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  4. Dan W. Joyce
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrey Kormilitzin.

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Competing interests

A.K. declares a research grant from GlaxoSmithKline. All other authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Kormilitzin, A., Tomasev, N., McKee, K.R. et al. A participatory initiative to include LGBT+ voices in AI for mental health. Nat Med 29, 10–11 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-02137-y

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