Conversational AI is becoming an always-available, emotionally responsive interface—especially in India, where mental health gaps and high digital adoption drive use in sensitive contexts. This publication maps the landscape, highlights trust and safety risks, and reviews India, EU, and US regulation.
Conversational AI systems have rapidly evolved from productivity tools into emotionally responsive interfaces that users increasingly turn to for support, guidance, and companionship. Advances in LLMs have enabled fluid, human-like dialogue, positioning these systems as accessible and always-available points of interaction, particularly in contexts where traditional support structures are limited.
In India, this shift intersects with a significant mental health treatment gap, persistent stigma, and widespread digital adoption. As a result, conversational AI tools are being used in emotionally sensitive and mental health-adjacent contexts, often beyond their original design intent. While these systems offer meaningful opportunities to expand access to support, they also raise critical questions around user safety, psychological reliance, and accountability.
This publication maps the conversational AI landscape in emotional wellbeing, identifies emerging trust and safety risks, and examines how existing regulatory frameworks in India, the European Union, and the United States address these challenges. It aims to support proportionate, evidence-based policy approaches that balance innovation with the need to safeguard vulnerable users.
Conversational AI for Emotional Wellbeing: Landscape Review and Policy Frontiers
Conversational AI systems have rapidly evolved from productivity tools into emotionally responsive interfaces that users increasingly turn to for support, guidance, and companionship. Advances in LLMs have enabled fluid, human-like dialogue, positioning these systems as accessible and always-available points of interaction, particularly in contexts where traditional support structures are limited.
In India, this shift intersects with a significant mental health treatment gap, persistent stigma, and widespread digital adoption. As a result, conversational AI tools are being used in emotionally sensitive and mental health-adjacent contexts, often beyond their original design intent. While these systems offer meaningful opportunities to expand access to support, they also raise critical questions around user safety, psychological reliance, and accountability.
This publication maps the conversational AI landscape in emotional wellbeing, identifies emerging trust and safety risks, and examines how existing regulatory frameworks in India, the European Union, and the United States address these challenges. It aims to support proportionate, evidence-based policy approaches that balance innovation with the need to safeguard vulnerable users.
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