Illinois has become the first US state to ban the use of AI in providing mental healthcare. Increasing concerns about AI chatbots causing patient harm, including enabling dangerous behavior has been an important subject of discussion and concern in the last few years.
On August 1st, Gov. JB Pritzker signed the Wellness and Oversight for Psychological Resources Act into law. The act prohibits the use of AI for mental health treatment and clinical decision-making within behavioral healthcare. It does allow behavioral health professionals to use AI for administrative and supplementary support services.
Earlier this year, the American Psychological Association urged the Federal Trade Commission to investigate AI-driven chatbots and their credibility to protect the public from a lack of regulation. A recent Stanford study revealed that AI therapy chatbots powered by large language models showed increased stigma toward certain conditions and enabled dangerous behavior, including suicidal ideation. This aligns with a prior JAMA systematic review demonstrating that neuroimaging-based AI models for psychiatric diagnosis display a high risk for bias and inconsistent clinical applicability.
Legislative Response
More and more states have introduced AI-related legislation over the last few years. Thus far In 2025, all of the states have have introduced legislation on this topic this year and over half have enacted various measures to develop a risk management policy and enable professional oversight that considers guidance from a list of specified standards.