AI Skillfully Adding AI To The HHS Pledge On Advancing Best Practices For National Mental Health Care By Lance Eliot ,
Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Dr. Lance B. Eliot is a world-renowned AI scientist and consultant. Follow Author Aug 12, 2026, 03:15am EDT Summary A recent HHS national pledge aims to advance behavioral health quality, but it does not highlight AI's essential role. The article proposes integrating AI into the pledge's six principles for improving mental health care. AI can enhance timely access through 24/7 support and triage, bolster evidence-based practices by synthesizing patient data, and improve measurement by analyzing outcomes. Furthermore, AI can foster patient-centered and individualized treatment plans, adapting to personal needs and amplifying clinician expertise. AI also supports whole-person care by integrating mental and physical health information. While AI offers immense benefits, the author cautions against potential downsides, emphasizing that humanity must guide AI's destiny in mental health.
HHS released a pledge on the future of mental health care, which I've opted to add AI as an integral element. getty In today’s column, I examine the recently announced national pledge by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on advancing behavioral health quality and best practices in our nation’s mental health care. The pledge was signed by various national healthcare leaders, mental health experts, medical associations, behavioral care providers, and others who sought to signify their explicit support for the precepts embodied in the pledge.
My focus is on adding AI to that pledge. You see, the pledge doesn’t mention anything at all about AI, but in my view, the role of AI in advancing behavioral health quality and best practices is essential and inevitable. As such, I provide an augmented version of the principles embodied in the pledge, doing so to directly illuminate how AI is going to be a central element in improving mental health care. There is no doubt that AI has a huge impact when it comes to mental health care, and we must acknowledge and seek to prudently manage the role of AI for the betterment of societal and individual mental health.
Let’s talk about it. This analysis of AI breakthroughs is part of my ongoing Forbes column coverage of the latest in AI, including identifying and explaining key AI complexities (see the link here ).
As a quick background, I’ve been extensively covering and analyzing a myriad of facets regarding the advent of modern-era AI that produces mental health advice and performs AI-driven therapy. This rising use of AI has principally been spurred by the evolving advances and widespread adoption of generative AI. For an extensive listing of my well over one hundred analyses and postings, see the link here and the link here .
There is little doubt that this is a rapidly developing field and that there are tremendous upsides to be had, but at the same time, regrettably, hidden risks and outright gotchas come into these endeavors, too. I frequently speak up about these pressing matters, including in an appearance on an episode of CBS’s 60 Minutes ; see the link here .
AI is being used widely for mental health purposes by individuals on an ad hoc basis, typically via everyday use of generative AI and large language models (LLMs). In addition, AI is being used by mental health professionals as a psyc…