How algorithmic bias created a mental health crisis

Health care executive Ronke Lawal discusses her article, "Digital mental health’s $20 billion blind spot." Ronke explains how the booming digital mental health industry is systematically failing 40 percent of the U.S. population (racial and ethnic minorities), ignoring a $20 billion market opportunity. She argues that the "one-size-fits-all" model, based on Western-centric care, is a product failure that leads to algorithmic bias, misdiagnosis in diverse patients, and culturally incompetent artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots. This failure in digital mental health doesn't just alienate users; it creates real financial consequences for health systems, including higher emergency department use and readmission rates. Ronke makes the ironclad business case for embedding "cultural intelligence" into technology, arguing it's the only way to fix systemic bias and build effective digital mental health tools.

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