Additional collaborators include SureStart, Google, the National Institutes of Health, Addiction Policy Forum, Community College of Rhode Island, and Clemson University. As part of its partnership with NSF, Capital One is contributing $1 million over five years to support ARIA's research efforts.

"ARIA, in its very conception, incorporates some of the most important ideals of doing people- and community-centered research," said Suresh Venkatasubramanian, a professor of computer science at Brown, director of Brown's Center for Technological Responsibility, Reimagination and Redesign, and co-director of ARIA. "Our team has scholars who span multiple disciplines, deep engagement with stakeholders in the mental and behavioral health community, and cutting-edge expertise in doing sociotechnical research."

ARIA's work will also include a robust education and workforce development program spanning K-12 students through working professionals. The ARIA team will work with the Bootstrap program, a computer science curriculum developed at Brown, to support evidence-based practices for building new AI curricula and training for K-12 teachers. An initiative called the Building Bridges Summer Program will bring college and high school students from across the country to ARIA campuses to work on cutting-edge AI research.

New technologies for tomorrow, new insights for today

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, more than one in five Americans lives with a mood, anxiety or substance use disorder. There are effective treatments for these conditions, but high cost, lack of insurance, limited access to transportation and social stigma can all create barriers to effective care. AI has the potential to break through these barriers in a variety of ways, Pavlick says.

"There are still a lot of open questions about what a 'good' AI system for mental health support looks like," Pavlick said. "We can imagine people wearing smartwatches or other devices that collect behavioral and biometric information, and having an AI system that uses that data to provide nudges or goal-oriented feedback. But there are obviously a lot of considerations about privacy, accuracy, personalization, safety and when to have a therapist in the loop. Part of the work of the institute will be to understand what forms this technology could take, which types of systems could work and which shouldn't exist."