129
When someone makes a billion dollars and is on the front cover of a tech mag for making an avatar companion that over-sexualises children — that terrifies me, and I wonder why we are not in a global uproar about it. I love AI, I use it every day, but the idea that we can solve human distress with code alone is deeply
my body and brain are playing on the same team. I open-sourced it, of course. I believe in radical sharing. If it works for me, it might work for you, or spark an even better version. You’re known for sharing all your ideas openly. Isn’t that risky? We can’t build a world-class mental health system with locked gates and proprietary code. If you’re sitting on an idea that could help someone and you don’t share it, what’s the point? I believe mental health innovation should be communal. If you want a competitive edge, you’re probably not in the right sector. The best innovations are the ones that snowball through many brains, many cultures, many adaptations. That’s why I love eMHIC and Congress events. People show up ready to share, borrow, adapt and reframe. When people leave with someone else’s idea, refine it, test it in their community and it works, it’s gold. It’s the anti-silo movement. If someone takes one of my tools and makes it better, I’ll shout them coffee and share the upgrade with the next person. That’s how we build movements, not just moments.
In mental health, historical power imbalances have done a lot of harm. Transparency and properly informed consent should be foundational, not optional extras. When data-sharing is done right, it builds trust, saves time, and improves outcomes. It also reduces diagnostic overshadowing. Technology should give people more control, not strip it away. It should help them see themselves, not disappear into data. If a policymaker said “tech solves everything”, what would you say? I’d ask two things. How does it work without Wi-Fi and good data? And who’s involved in co-design? If tools aren’t built by or with people who’ll use them, they won’t work. If your digital mental health strategy doesn’t work for a First Nations elder in Ceduna, a teen in foster care, or a refugee who speaks Dari, it doesn’t work. We need co-designed pathways for access, digital literacy programs, translated and culturally adapted tools, and strong protections for people at risk of surveillance or coercion. Tech shouldn’t just be another gatekeeper. It should be a bridge, built for real people with messy lives. Tools must be eclectic to be effective. Any final thoughts? I don’t believe in shiny tech for the sake of it. I believe in tools that serve people’s real lives. And I believe in humour. It’s the cheapest and most underused mental health tool we’ve got.
flawed. AI should augment care, not replace it. It needs
serious ethical guardrails, and as consumers we need to stay alert to how data can and is being misused, especially in mental health, where trust is everything. My team uses a bunch of closed- loop GPT tools we designed ourselves. They help with admin and brainstorming, but they don’t replace humans. They support humans to do better work. I love teaching others to do the same, building ethical AI tools inside policy environments, tailored for their needs. It’s honestly thrilling watching someone realise they don’t need to be techy to make their job easier and more values- aligned with smart AI. But I don’t want AI replacing critical or creative thinking, or worse, replacing human relationships. You talk about “data dignity”. What does that mean? It means flipping the power dynamic. For too long, people have been passive subjects in systems collecting their data. Data dignity means you own your story. You can read your notes, contribute to them, correct things that are wrong, control who sees what, and understand how your data’s being used.
What gives you pause about AI?
AI and the money it can make for big companies is really bringing our understanding of commercial determinants of health to the spotlight. We need more focus on, and accountability for, those making money from making us sick, isolated, lonely, and addicted.
Photography by Claudio Raschella Makeup by Aleksandra Pinneri
Made with FlippingBook Digital Publishing Software