Experts Discuss the Impact of AI on Mental Health
Experts came together at the Bloomberg School to discuss the risks, benefits, and potential impacts of AI on mental health care
The Department of Mental Health and leaders from across the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health convened on February 2 for an urgent discussion that explored the burgeoning use of artificial intelligence for mental health care. The conversation focused on how risks in the digital environment can be identified and reduced while still harnessing AI’s practical benefits. The panelists explored pathways to safety and examined opportunities to support mental health in the digital environment and co-create strategies alongside people with lived experience.
Laura Reiley, whose powerful op-ed described how her daughter Sophie Rottenberg, MSPH ’20, took her life after months chatting with an AI therapist, shared her story. She was joined by Thomas Insel, MD, who formerly served as director of the National Institute of Mental Health and more recently led the mental health team at Verily (formerly known as Google Life Sciences), and Holly Wilcox, PhD ’03, MA, a professor in Mental Health and director and founder of the Johns Hopkins Center for Suicide Prevention. The conversation was moderated by Johannes Thrul, PhD, MS, an associate professor in Mental Health.
Drawing on a public mental health approach, this conversation examined how to respond to mental health challenges at population scale; advance safe, responsible clinical and community-based applications of AI; and fill the gap in credible, evidence-based research on the impacts of AI on mental health.
Watch the recording of the discussion above or on YouTube.
Speakers
Laura Reiley
Laura Reiley is a science writer for the Cornell Chronicle. She was most recently the business of food reporter at the Washington Post and was previously a food critic and food industry reporter at the Tampa Bay Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Baltimore Sun. She is a four-time James Beard finalist and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2017. In August 2025, she wrote an opinion piece for the New York Times about her daughter Sophie Rottenberg, MSPH ’20, who took her own life after spending months confiding in an AI therapist named Harry.
Thomas Insel, MD
Thomas lnsel is a psychiatrist, neuroscientist, and national leader in mental health research, policy, and technology. From 2002 to 2015, Insel served as director of the National Institute of Mental Health. More recently, he led the mental health team at Verily (formerly Google Life Sciences). His most recent start-up, AdvocateMH, is a public benefit corporation that seeks to change the ecosystem of digital mental health by building a marketplace based on quality. He is the author of Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health.
Holly Wilcox, PhD ’03, MA
Holly Wilcox is a professor in the Department of Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, with joint appointments in the Department of Health Policy and Management and the Johns Hopkins University Schools of Medicine and Education. She is also the founder and director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Suicide Prevention. Wilcox uses research to advance public health approaches to suicide prevention, including policies, early intervention, and chain of care approaches. She chairs Maryland Governor Wes Moore’s Commission of Suicide Prevention and serves on the Maryland Suicide Fatality review team.
Johannes Thrul, PhD, MS
Johannes Thrul is an associate professor in the Department of Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. A psychologist by training, he conducts interdisciplinary research at the intersection of addiction science, mental health, and the digital environment, including social media and AI technologies. His work bridges behavioral science, public health, and data science to better understand how digital platforms shape health and wellbeing, and to develop and evaluate evidence-based digital and mobile health (mHealth) interventions that support behavior change.
