King's College London

Professor Elena Simperl, Co-Director of the King's Institute for Artificial Intelligence, has been appointed to Mind's Mental Health in the Age of AI Commission, an independent initiative examining how artificial intelligence is changing the way people access mental health information, advice and support. The Commission brings together experts from technology, mental health, policy and lived experience to explore both the opportunities and risks associated with AI in mental health.

Over the next 12 months, the Commission will gather evidence from the public, regulators, mental health providers and technology companies before producing recommendations for policymakers and industry. Its work will focus on how AI is changing help-seeking behaviours, how people can be kept safe when using AI as part of their mental health journey, and the impact AI may have on inequalities in access to support.

Professor Simperl's research examines how AI systems can be evaluated, governed, and assured in high-stakes settings. Through her work in the Participatory Harm Auditing Workbenches and Methodologies (PHAWM) programme, she is developing participatory approaches to auditing and assuring high-stakes AI systems, helping to address questions about how new technologies can be assessed safely and responsibly in real-world contexts.

She has highlighted the need for evaluation approaches developed with clinicians, patient groups, and families that better reflect the realities of mental health practice. Current AI benchmarks, she argues, often fail to capture the subtle, context-dependent ways people express distress, while safety testing should consider how harms can emerge through repeated interactions over time rather than focusing solely on individual responses.

The appointment reflects King's growing contribution to research and public engagement around AI and mental health. The King's Institute for Artificial Intelligence and the Looking After Minds and Brains in the Digital Age (LAMBDA) research group have co-hosted a series of workshops exploring AI mental health safety, bringing together researchers, clinicians, policymakers and people with lived experience.

King's researchers are also helping to build the evidence base in this area. Research by Dr Hamilton Morrin, Dr Thomas Pollak and colleagues, published in The Lancet Psychiatry, found that AI chatbots can validate and amplify delusional content in users who are vulnerable to psychosis. The findings highlight the kinds of risks that Professor Simperl argues should be considered when evaluating AI systems intended for use in mental health settings, and underline the importance of understanding longer-term patterns of AI use rather than focusing only on individual responses.

The Commission has been launched amid growing concern about the role of AI in mental health support. Research commissioned by Mind found that many people are turning to AI chatbots for mental health support, often instead of traditional services, prompting calls for stronger safeguards, clearer guidance and greater accountability from technology companies. The Commission aims to examine both the opportunities AI may offer and the risks it poses when used as a substitute for therapy, crisis support or clinical guidance.

As part of its work, the Commission has launched a public call for evidence, inviting people aged 18 and over in England and Wales to share experiences, concerns and perspectives on the use of AI in mental health. The evidence gathered will help inform the Commission's recommendations and contribute to wider discussions about the future of AI-enabled mental health support.