AI at Headspace

Putting people first

AI has the potential to solve the biggest challenges in mental health: access, cost, and stigma. By making high-quality, evidence-based support available to anyone at any time, and personalizing it in ways that feel natural and human, AI can help more people feel seen, heard, and supported, without the high price tag or pressure.

• Member safety. Headspace prioritizes member safety in all interactions with AI. We rigorously test our AI to ensure member safety and to prevent inappropriate use. We also utilize a patented safety-risk detection algorithm to identify members with critical concerns, such as thoughts of harming themselves or others, abuse, and more. When we identify that a member needs more support or is unsafe, we enable rapid access to appropriate resources.
• Transparency and agency. Prior to explicit consent and then direct engagement with our AI product features, we inform members about its functionality and limitations. Headspace empowers members to choose how they would like to interact with AI, by informing them of the risks, benefits, alternatives to and implications of engaging with AI.

Learning from experts

We believe AI will not solve the world’s most pressing problems by training only on web data. AI models must be guided by decades of advancement in mental health research if they are going to improve the quality of care and not just offer poor substitutes. And that’s exactly what we do at Headspace.

• Clinical expertise. We firmly believe that mental health experts are essential to developing AI for mental health products and services. Our team of clinical psychologists, product designers, data scientists and engineers work together to ensure high-quality experiences. For example, Ebb was designed with evidence-based mental health standards to support our members.
• Inclusivity, equity, and cultural responsiveness. Headspace aims to develop and maintain culturally responsive AI in its products that not only mitigates biases but actively promotes health equity. We integrate a deep understanding of diverse, lived experiences across multiple identity dimensions, including (but not limited to): race, ethnicity, caste, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, age, religiosity/spirituality, and ability status. We ensure cultural responsiveness by reflecting a broad spectrum of identities and experiences in our team composition, AI data, and development processes, with ongoing input from a team of experts.

Taking privacy seriously

Privacy is not an afterthought for us. We take the responsibility of safeguarding our members’ personal information extremely seriously. As a mental health company first, we’re committed to protecting our members’ privacy like we would our own – not only because it’s required by law, but because it’s the right thing to do. Headspace is fully compliant with privacy regulations, such as HIPAA and GDPR, and we use leading data protection practices, such as encrypting data and storing it in secure environments. For general information on Headspace’s privacy policy, learn more here.