Child Mind Institute Launches Research Initiative To Inform Safer AI Systems for Youth

New project will develop tools to study youth mental health during AI chatbot use

New York, NY — Today, the Child Mind Institute announced a new research initiative, launched with support from the OpenAI Foundation, to build the research infrastructure needed to measure and better understand youth mental health while using AI chatbots and over time. The effort aims to identify valid markers that can inform the design and testing of safer AI systems.

Millions of children in the United States are struggling with mental health or learning challenges, yet there continues to be a dire shortage of qualified mental health professionals. That, along with stigma and misinformation about mental health, is pushing young people to explore using readily available, often free AI tools for support, including general-purpose chatbots, digital companions, or “therapy bots.”

Novel and emerging digital technologies are shaping mental health faster than the pace of science and the development of evidence-based care can keep up. This new initiative will help advance research studying the impact of these tools and better support youth mental health.

“As the leading nonprofit dedicated to improving youth mental health through science, education, and care, the Child Mind Institute is well positioned to help tackle the key issues affecting the well-being of young people, including technology and the proliferation of AI. It is our belief that with appropriate safeguards and evidence, digital tools may complement care from trained clinicians,” said Harold S. Koplewicz, MD, president and medical director at the Child Mind Institute. “We are excited about filling a gap that currently exists in the research of AI tools and to work toward creating a safer online experience for youth around the globe.”

Using clinical assessments, digital journals, de-identified AI chat histories, real-time behavioral measures, and existing youth mental health datasets, the Child Mind Institute will build an infrastructure to better understand interactions between youth users and AI conversational platforms. With the goal of strengthening our understanding of the mental state in AI chatbot interactions, this initial one-year project will enable the research team to identify and begin scaling the signals needed to meaningfully assess and monitor youth mental health alongside their use of AI tools.

The Child Mind Institute has long been committed to advancing technologies that make mental health research and care more precise, measurable, and connected to real-world settings. Grounded in science and focused on impact, the organization brings together scientific rigor, clinical expertise, and product development experience to build digital tools that accelerate research, improve care, and expand access without compromising safety, quality, or accountability.

“Many of our youth are turning to AI chatbots for important areas of their lives — and mental health is no exception. It is our responsibility to more holistically comprehend the impact of these tools on mental health, both in the long and short term,” said Michael P. Milham, MD, PhD, chief science officer at the Child Mind Institute. “Digital platforms provide an opportunity to rethink the way we conduct mental health research, but they also introduce new challenges and risks. It is critical to better understand the relationship between AI use and youth mental health, and to examine whether, and under what conditions, AI tools can strengthen evidence-based care, support clinician training, and expand access to high-quality mental health services.”

This research initiative is being independently developed and solely executed by the Child Mind Institute. To ensure the safety and security of all study participants, it will be conducted with strong privacy protections, informed consent, ethical oversight, and careful data governance. The project will be co-designed by its principal investigators, Gregory Kiar, PhD, Arno Klein, PhD, and Dr. Milham, who bring expertise in computational methods, digital measurement, clinical science, and youth mental health. Consistent with the Child Mind Institute’s open science philosophy, all data will be shared to help fuel discovery across the field.

About the Child Mind Institute

The Child Mind Institute is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to transforming the lives of children and families struggling with mental health and learning disorders. Through cutting-edge research, evidence-based clinical care, and public education, the Child Mind Institute builds open science platforms and digital tools to accelerate discovery and improve youth mental health worldwide.

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