AI + The New Human Frontier

CHAPTER 31The Future of Mental Health

Mental health issues today have become almost pandemic. Mental illness is on the rise, with much of it being clinically under- and undiagnosed. The mental health of global populations is increasingly in the spotlight because of a confluence of societal factors such as: an increasingly interconnected and polarized world; lack of available economic and employment opportunities; gender imbalances; shifting cultural norms; and the rise of social media. In fact, researchers using health-monitoring devices found that entire populations' sleeping habits, heart rates, and distances walked can swing out of sync after large societal events—and much of this is heightened by a constant cycle of social media and digital news. Much, too, has been made of AI taking over many jobs because of the work involved, and the threat of losing a job to AI is taking a toll on employee mental health.

We can catalog the growing incidence of mental illnesses around the globe, including anxiety, stress, depression, PTSD, suicides, substance abuse, and addiction. Rates of loneliness are rising all over the world. It is believed that severe loneliness can damage your health as much as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Seniors enduring loneliness have a much higher mortality risk.

Workforce problems resulting from massive declines in mental health are already resulting in absenteeism (not just of suffering employees but those who serve as caregivers or who are affected by others ...