The COVID-19 crisis has exposed an enduring silent epidemic and greatly accelerated the need for a properly funded and regulated global mental health ecosystem. Disruptive technologies – such as artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML), digital reality (DR), blockchain and the cloud – offer a tremendous opportunity to improve global mental health systems, making them more affordable and more easily scaled, particularly in countries where people lack adequate access to such services. Yet as well as offering breakthrough solutions, these technologies also have the potential for misuse and mistreatment.

The primary purpose of this toolkit is to provide governments, regulators and independent assurance bodies with the tools to develop, adopt and engage standards and policies that address major ethical concerns relating to the use of disruptive technology in mental health. It seeks to improve the accessibility, quality and safety of services that support all members of society to meet their desired emotional, social and psychological potential.

Report by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with Deloitte