Deep View: The Challenges of making AI for mental health work

Posted on March 26, 2025 by michelleclarke2015
  
The challenges of making AI for mental health care work Source: Unsplash

Benchmarks have become something of a holy grail in the AI field. When we’re dealing with systems designed to automate high-level knowledge work, the need for some method of measurement is clear. But the problem, as we’ve often discussed in this newsletter, is that benchmarks are rarely a good indicator of real-world performance, especially when it comes to generative AI. 

A simple lack of transparency crossed with the consistent black-box nature of large language models (LLMs) means that researchers don’t really know if a model is exhibiting genuine performance, or if it was just trained on the information in the benchmark test. It’s the difference between, for example, a student studying for and passing a test, and a student who was given the test to study, then memorized the answers and recalled them later. 

In some realms, and for some people, the difference might not matter. 

But it’s a piece of nuance that gets more important as these models get integrated into higher-stakes environments, as it relates heavily to levels of user trust.This is especially true of GenAI integrations in healthcare fields, an integration that is happening in full force, today. Many GenAI systems in healthcare are back-end systems, employed by researchers to speed up drug development, for instance. But increasingly, we’re seeing the rise of AI-powered clinical assistants and notetakers designed to help out nurses and reduce the administrative burden faced by doctors. Ethics and challenges aside, it’s an integration that requires a robust reliability calculus; an effective benchmark.  

Researchers at Stanford just proposed one for mental health, a field that has not been spared the unrelenting push of AI integration. 

The details: Current benchmarks, according to the paper, are built to mimic exams, and come complete with multiple-choice answer options. 

The problem with this is that, “even for humans … success in these standardized tests only weakly correlates with clinicians’ real-world performance, a disconnect that can be especially problematic in psychiatry, where diagnosis and management hinge on subjective judgments and interpersonal nuances.” 

This is even worse with the benchmarks that assess LLMs, according to the researchers, which “over-simplify the complexities of day-to-day clinical practice tasks.” 

The proposed benchmark, which the researchers made openly available on GitHub under an MIT license, was curated by a diverse group of experts across five major domains: diagnosis, treatment, monitoring, triage and documentation. It focuses on real-world ambiguity, assessing open-ended clinical responses, and was built without the use of an LLM.  The researchers assessed a number of off-the-shelf models from developers including OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta. The models, which aren’t designed or intended for clinical applications, performed well in the diagnosis category, collectively achieving an 80% accuracy rate. But they averaged accuracy rates of less than 50% for triage and documentation, clocking only a 67% for monitoring and a 76% for treatment. 

According to the researchers, the models “perform well on structured tasks,” but “struggle significantly with ambiguous real-world tasks … underscoring the limitations of current AI models in handling uncertainty.” Under the impression, laid out so elegantly by Psychology Today, that “like it or not, (AI) is here to stay,” we’re going to need many more benchmarks of this nature — expert-curated and as ambiguous and nuanced as humanly possible. They’re harder to train for, and they are absolute necessities when clinicians are considering the adoption of these tools. Experts in domains beyond computer science absolutely need to be made aware of just how reliable, and just how trustworthy, generative AI models are (or are not). Even 80% accuracy rates ought to be pretty unacceptable in a bunch of fields. Of course, as the paper mentions, this doesn’t address a couple of key problems that surround this integration, which include data security and privacy, consent, reliability and algorithmic bias. Taken together, it adds up to the risk that “AI systems could be prematurely deployed in psychiatric care, potentially leading to harmful, biased or unreliable clinical decisions.” But I guess you can’t have everything. This is the start of a start. 

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Ireland: We who support Hamas in the context of Gaza. But the nucleus is below. Iran changed in 1978 from a Monarchy to the dictatorship we know and fear now.

Posted on March 26, 2025 by michelleclarke2015

𝗡𝗶𝗼𝗵 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗴 ♛ ✡︎

@NiohBerg

26th March 2025

This moment destroyed the Middle East for generations.

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“In the Black” … Time to engage with Millenial Debt Foundation. What we need to ask is: What do we owe the Future? Brilliant idea to get the message across is “in the black” … the initiative black number plates is working in the U.S.

Posted on March 26, 2025 by michelleclarke2015

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Republic of Ireland: So far removed from the antics of our Politicians … we need to expect more

add this…we need to use Grok3 and other AI … Reduction of nonsense documentation

https://x.com/i/status/1870091783218323564

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Ferguson’s Law: No great power that spends more on its debt than its own defense can be great for long. (From 1700’s)

Posted on March 26, 2025 by michelleclarke2015

Millennial Debt Foundation

@millennialdebt

Ferguson’s Law: No great power that spends more on its debt than its own defense can be great for long.

May 10, 2024

🚨Interest is now our 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 government program🚨 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬 this year just 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 and it also 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝑴𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈. https://crfb.org/blogs/interest-costs-just-surpassed-defense-and-medicare…

S

Millennial Debt Foundation

@millennialdebt

Ferguson’s Law: No great power that spends more on its debt than its own defense can be great for long.

Quote

Marc Goldwein

@MarcGoldwein

·

May 10, 2024

Interest is now our 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 government program

𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬 this year just 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 and it also 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝑴𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈. https://crfb.org/blogs/interest-costs-just-surpassed-defense-and-medicare…

Show more

how more

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Bipolar Day: 30th March 2023. Excellent interview by Claire Byrne: a mum of twins discusses her life with bipolar alongside a medical person from Aware. For further information check out the video from Cleveland Clinic What is Bipolar; Signs of Bipolar Disorder

Posted on March 26, 2025 by michelleclarke2015

https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22500060/

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6 Signs Of A STUPID Man | Carl Jung

Posted on March 25, 2025 by michelleclarke2015

Mar 23, 2025 #CarlJung#EmotionalIntelligence#Psychology

Stoic Infinity

Are you unknowingly making the mistakes of a foolish man? Carl Jung believed that self-awareness is the key to true intelligence. In this video, we break down six dangerous signs of stupidity that hold people back—and more importantly, how to break free from them. From emotional control to mastering self-discipline, discover the mindset shifts that separate the wise from the ignorant. Are you ready to level up? Watch till the end and start your transformation today!

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GZERO Media: Is Europe in trouble as the US pulls away? | Ian Bremmer’s Quick Take

Posted on March 25, 2025 by michelleclarke2015

Mar 24, 2025 #QuickTake#US#Europe

Trump is reshaping America’s relationship with Europe, which has been “impacted in a permanent and structural way,” says ‪@Ian_Bremmer‬. In this Quick Take, Ian explains what that shift means for the future of the transatlantic alliance—and for Europe.

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Gabor Mate: Your Partner Choice Reveals Everything! The Hidden Cost of Ignoring Trauma

Posted on March 24, 2025 by michelleclarke2015

We Need To Talk

515,784 views Oct 22, 2024

In this episode, Dr. Gabor Maté, a world-renowned expert on trauma, stress and addiction, reveals how childhood experiences and emotional suppression deeply shape our relationships and overall wellbeing.He explains how unresolved trauma from our early years can lead to stress and challenges in adult relationships, and offers powerful insights on how embracing vulnerability and authenticity can foster healing and transformation in both one’s personal life and relationships. Whether you’re dealing with relationship challenges or seeking personal growth, Dr. Maté’s wisdom provides a path to healing and improvement, by understanding the root causes of emotional suppression and learning to live more authentically. Follow Gabor’s work here:

On Instagram – https://g2ul0.app.link/BHvQI3ZySNb ..and his latest book, The Myth of Normal – 

https://g2ul0.app.link/gOaWoFWySNb

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Eurasia Review follow it: Robert Reich: Trump’s Attack On The American Mind – OpEd. Quote: “Throughout history, tyrants have understood that their major enemy is an educated citizenry. Slaveholders prohibited the enslaved from learning to read. Nazis burned books. Putin and Xi censor the media.”

Posted on March 23, 2025 by michelleclarke2015

Robert Reich

Robert Reich

Robert Reich: Trump’s Attack On The American Mind – OpEd

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By Robert Reich

Trump is dismantling much of the Department of Education. He has ordered wrestling executive-turned-Education Secretary Linda McMahon to shut most of her department, although student loans and special education funding will continue.

His executive order will effectively destroy a $100 billion-a-year executive department created by Congress under President Jimmy Carter 45 years ago. 

But there’s a much larger story here.

Combine this with Trump’s attacks on higher education — his gutting the funding of the National Institutes of Health (which provides a large portion of biomedical research) and the National Science Foundation (engineering and computer research) and his effective closure of USAID (which underwrites research in global diseases).

Put this together with Trump’s attacks on the freedom of speech of university students and professors. 

And with Trump’s (and RFK Jr.’s) attacks on vaccine science.

With Trump’s and right-wing governors’ attacks on teaching the truth in our schools about America’s history of slavery and Native American genocide. 

Combine this with Trump’s attack on America’s libraries — last week’s executive order mandating cuts in the funding of libraries around the country — which will jeopardize literacy development and reading programs, reliable internet access for those without it at home, and homework help and other resources for students and educators.

And his attacks on America’s museums (the same executive order cut their funding, too). And his attack on the arts, as illustrated by Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center (last month, he announced himself its new chair, replaced 13 board members, and inserted a new interim president). 

What’s the larger picture? 

Not an “attack on the liberal state,” as I keep reading. Not “the culmination of Trump’s culture wars.” Certainly not that Trump is seeking “small government” over “big government” or advancing traditional conservatism over traditional liberalism. 

What’s really occurring is an attack on the American mind. 

Throughout history, tyrants have understood that their major enemy is an educated citizenry. Slaveholders prohibited the enslaved from learning to read. Nazis burned books. Putin and Xi censor the media.

Ignorance is the handmaiden of tyranny. 

Those who believe in democracy, on the other hand, have been at the forefront of the movement for free, universal public education and for public libraries, museums, and the arts. 

They understand that democracy depends on people knowing what’s occurring around them and having the capacity to deliberate critically about it. 

Trump is only the frontman in this attack on the American mind. 

The attack is really coming from the anti-democracy movement: from JD Vance and from Vance’s major financial backer, venture capitalist Peter Thiel, who staked $15 million on Vance’s Ohio senatorial election in 2022 and helped convince Trump to make Vance vice president. And from Thiel’s early business partner, Elon Musk. 

Thiel is a self-styled libertarian who once wrote: “I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible.”

Hello? Freedom is incompatible with democracy only if you view democracy as a potential constraint on your wealth and power.

Behind Vance and Musk is a libertarian group of rich crypto bros, tech executives, back-to-the-landers, and disaffected far-right intellectuals.

Curtis Yarvin comes as close as anyone to being their intellectual godfather. He has written that political power in the United States is held by a liberal amalgam of universities and the mainstream media whose commitment to equality and justice is eroding America’s social order.

In Yarvin’s view, democratic governments are inefficient and wasteful. They should be replaced with sovereign joint-stock corporations whose major “shareholders” select an executive with total power, who serves at their pleasure. Yarvin refers to the city-state of Singapore as an example of a successful authoritarian regime.

Make no mistake: Trump’s attack on the American mind — on education, science, libraries, and museums — is an attack on the capacity of Americans for self-government.

It is coming from the oligarchs of the techno-state who believe democracy is inefficient and want to replace it with an authoritarian regime replete with technologies they control. 

Be warned.

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Robert Reich

Robert B. Reich is Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley and Senior Fellow at the Blum Center for Developing Economies, and writes at robertreich.substack.com. Reich served as Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration, for which Time Magazine named him one of the ten most effective cabinet secretaries of the twentieth century. He has written fifteen books, including the best sellers “Aftershock”, “The Work of Nations,” and”Beyond Outrage,” and, his most recent, “The Common Good,” which is available in bookstores now. He is also a founding editor of the American Prospect magazine, chairman of Common Cause, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and co-creator of the award-winning documentary, “Inequality For All.” He’s co-creator of the Netflix original documentary “Saving Capitalism,” which is streaming

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Eurasia Review follow it

Posted on March 23, 2025 by michelleclarke2015

The Global Aging Crisis Demands Urgent Action Beyond Economics – OpEd

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By Dr. Fr. John Singarayar

The world is growing older at an unprecedented pace, creating a demographic revolution that will reshape every aspect of society in the coming decades. Each day, over 32,000 people in China and nearly 12,000 in the United States turn 65, with Germany, Italy, and Canada facing the most concentrated aging challenges per capita. By 2050, one in four people in the UK will be 65 or older, while China’s elderly population will surge from 300 to 400 million in just over a decade—a transformation unparalleled in human history for its scale and speed.

This demographic shift emerges from two powerful forces converging: dramatically increased longevity and persistently low birth rates. Medical advances have extended lifespans while economic development, women’s education, and evolving social attitudes have driven fertility rates below replacement levels across developed nations. The result is societies increasingly top-heavy with elderly citizens supported by proportionally fewer working-age individuals.

The economic implications are profound and immediate. Pension systems designed during eras of population growth face potential collapse without radical reform. Japan already struggles with unsustainable pension expenditures, while Italy and Germany’s generous state benefits appear increasingly precarious given their aging populations. Labor markets face disruption as experienced workers retire without sufficient replacements, creating critical knowledge gaps and workforce shortages despite automation advances. Japan’s acute labor crisis foreshadows challenges other nations will soon confront, forcing reconsideration of immigration policies despite traditional resistance.

Healthcare systems stand at the frontlines of this demographic transformation. The elderly consume healthcare resources at significantly higher rates, with chronic conditions and long-term care needs growing exponentially. Nations with single-payer systems face mounting fiscal pressure as the ratio of contributors to beneficiaries deteriorates. Even the United States, with its different healthcare structure, confronts similar challenges with Medicare sustainability.

Beyond these economic dimensions lie equally profound social transformations. Family structures are evolving as smaller families become the norm, reducing traditional support networks for the elderly. China’s “4-2-1 problem”—where one child potentially supports two parents and four grandparents—exemplifies this challenge at its extreme. Increasing geographic mobility further complicates family-based elder support, creating gaps that social services must fill.

The psychological and social dimensions of aging societies, though less discussed than economic factors, carry equal weight. Isolation and loneliness among elderly populations represent growing public health concerns, particularly as traditional family structures evolve. Social infrastructure designed primarily for younger populations requires reimagining to accommodate older citizens’ needs and ensure their continued engagement in community life. As competing demands for limited public resources intensify, the potential for intergenerational tension rises—a challenge requiring thoughtful navigation.

The global nature of this demographic shift creates interconnected effects that may exacerbate challenges. International capital flows could shift as aging populations draw down savings, potentially affecting investment in emerging economies. Migration patterns may intensify, with working-age individuals increasingly drawn to economies with labor shortages. This mobility could accelerate demographic challenges in sending countries while moderating them in receiving nations.

Policy responses have generally proven inadequate or politically fraught. Pension reform encounters fierce resistance from current and near-retirees who planned their lives under existing systems. Immigration policies that could help rebalance worker-to-retiree ratios face political headwinds from nationalist movements. Pronatalist efforts have shown limited effectiveness in significantly increasing birth rates in developed economies.

China’s situation demands particular attention given its scale and speed of aging. Unlike countries like Japan or Germany that grew wealthy before they grew old, China faces the prospect of “getting old before getting rich” due to its formerly strict one-child policy. With less developed social security and healthcare systems, China’s aging challenge could prove uniquely destabilizing, with global economic ripple effects.

Japan’s experience offers both cautionary tales and potential innovative responses. As the world’s oldest society, Japan has pioneered technologies for elderly care, reconsidered urban design for aging populations, and gradually shifted cultural attitudes around work, retirement, and elder care. Other nations would be wise to study Japan’s approaches as they confront their own demographic transitions.

The aging population phenomenon represents not a temporary challenge but a fundamental restructuring of human societies. Previous assumptions about economic growth, social organization, and intergenerational relationships require reconsideration. The most successful societies will be those that adapt proactively rather than reactively, redesigning systems for sustainability, embracing technological solutions without neglecting human care needs, and fostering intergenerational solidarity rather than competition.

This demographic transformation demands balancing competing imperatives: fiscal sustainability, intergenerational fairness, quality of life for elderly citizens, and continued economic dynamism. No perfect solutions exist, but the scope and speed of change demand urgent attention and holistic approaches addressing not just economic impacts but social, cultural, and ethical dimensions.

How societies respond to population aging may define the 21st century as profoundly as industrialization defined the 19th or digital technology the late 20th. An aging world is inevitable; whether it becomes a crisis or an opportunity for societal evolution depends on choices being made today. The nations that recognize this demographic shift as not merely a financial challenge but a call to reimagine social contracts, community structures, and the very meaning of aging itself will be best positioned to thrive in our collectively older future.

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Dr. Fr. John Singarayar

Dr. Fr. John Singarayar, SVD, is a member of the Society of the Divine Word, India Mumbai Province, and holds a doctorate in Anthropology. He is the author of seven books and a regular contributor to academic conferences and scholarly publications in the fields of sociology, anthropology, tribal studies, spirituality, and mission studies. He currently serves at the Community and Human Resources Development Centre in Tala, Maharashtra

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