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Everyday Sensing and AI for Mental Health Care: Navigating a Tipping Point
June 16, 2025 - June 20, 2025
Cornell University – Ithaca, NY
This Thought Summit brings together leading experts and thought leaders from academia, industry, and the entrepreneurial world to envision and help create the future of everyday AI and mental health. With wide-ranging expertise in clinical machine learning, human-centered AI for mental health, law and policy, as well as business and economics, the Summit participants will discuss how these disciplines can collaborate to realize the transformative potential of everyday AI systems in mental health care.
The Charge
From detecting and mitigating people’s suicidal thoughts from social media posts to tracking and alleviating depression using AppleWatch, consumer-grade AI software holds exciting promises in addressing the national mental health crisis that plagues the U.S. Everyday AI systems promise not only more timely, but also smoother transitions from self-directed wellness practices to professional psychiatric treatments.
However, for decades, distinct laws regulated commercial and clinical software, as well as the data they collected. Different economic models dictate who can access consumer- and clinical-grade sensing devices. Therefore, until recently, when patients transition from self-directed to professional mental healthcare, physicians must gather their behavioral health data and formulate treatment plans anew. Meanwhile, everyday sensing devices and AI promise stepped interventions (e.g., from sleep-and-exercise suggestions to cognitive behavioral therapy and formal psychiatric care), a care pathway better suited to the progressive nature of most mental illnesses.
Organizers
Angel Hwang
Senior Personnel
Postdoc, Information Science, College of Computing and Information Science
Participants
Andrew Campbell
Studies AI and behavioral sensing for student mental health assessment & support at Dartmouth College
Munmun De Choudhury
Keynote Speaker
Studies adult & pediatric digital mental health, computational social science, human-computer interaction at Georgia Institute of Technology
Ned Cooper
Former human rights lawyer. Studies AI policy and participatory design at Australian National University
Guodong Liu
Studies psychometric assessments via an AI-powered conversational journal at Penn State College of Medicine
Sean Munson
Designs psychosocial interventions for primary care, schools, communities at University of Washington
Agenda
Day 1: Welcome and Introduction
On Day 1, everyone will meet everyone and establish some shared goals for the Summit.
- 9:00 – 9:30 Check-in & Breakfast at Gates Hall, Room 122
- 9:30 – 9:50 Opening Panel: What about Everyday AI and Mental Health Brings Us Here?
Speakers: Tanzeem Choudhury, Fei Wang, Qian Yang, Angel Hwang - 9:50 – 10:00 Welcome Message Dr. David Shmoys, the Director of the Cornell Center for Data Science for Enterprise & Society will welcome all participants.
- 10:00 – 10:30 Organizers’ Lightning Talks
Speakers: Angel Hwang, Tanzeem Choudhury, Fei Wang, Qian Yang. - 10:30 – 10:50 Coffee Break
- 10:50 – 11:20 Participant Lightning Talks – Practitioner and Industry Perspectives
Participants’ lightning talks will provide an overview of their expertise and highlight one key change they wish to see in the future of everyday AI and mental health. Each talk is 5-7 minutes.
Speakers: Trisha Kilbourn, Guodong Liu, Beth Kolko, Ti Zhao. - 11:20 – 12:00 Participant Lightning Talks – Design and Responsible AI Perspectives
Speakers: John Zimmerman, Ned Cooper, Richmond Wong, Ranjit Singh, Briana Vecchione. - 12:00 – 13:30 Social Lunch
- 13:30 – 14:00 Participant Lightening Talks – HCI and AI Perspectives
Speakers: Munmun De Choudhury, Andrew Campbell, Yifan Peng, Sean Munson. - 14:00 – 15:00 Breakout activity: What do we want to achieve through this Summit?
Moderators: Angel Hwang, Qian Yang. - 15:00 – 15:10 Coffee Break
- 15:10 Shareouts from group discussion
Day 2: Innovating Human-Centered AI for Mental Health
Day 2 aims to create a roadmap for concrete, human-centered AI innovations that significantly improve mental wellness and care.
- 9:00 – 9:30 Check-in & Breakfast at Gates Hall, Room 122
- 9:30 – 10:40 Keynote: The Landscape of Human-Centered AI Innovation for Mental Health
Speaker: Munmun Choudhury
Moderator: Fei Wang - 10:40 – 11:00 Coffee Break
- 11:00 – 12:00 Panel: AI for Sensing and Measurement
Moderator: Fei Wang
Panelists: Vedant Das Swain, Yifan Peng, Sean Munson. - 12:00 – 13:30 Social Lunch
- 13:30 – 14:30 Panel: AI for Care Delivery
Moderator: Tanzeem Choudhury
Panelists: Andrew Campbell, Fei Wang, Trisha Kilbourn, Briana Vecchione. - 14:30 – 15:30 Design Sprint: Roadmap for AI Innovation for Mental Well-being & Health
Moderators: Vedant Das Swain and Angel Hwang - 15:00 – 15:10 Coffee Break
- 15:10 Open-Floor Discussion: Top Priorities in Innovating AI for Mental Health
Day 3: Navigating and Improving the Economic and Policy Landscape
On Day 3, we will together envision concrete policy changes — whether regulatory, economic, or otherwise—that can significantly enhance the innovation and real-world impact of AI technologies for mental health.
- 9:00 – 9:20 Check-in & Breakfast at Gates Hall, Room 122
- 9:20 – 10:00 Panel: Economic and Policy Matters Surrounding Responsible Innovation
Panelists: Ti Zhao, Beth Kolko
Moderator: John Zimmerman - 10:00 – 11:00 Keynote: Investment and Funding Landscape of Mental Health Tech
Speaker: Danish Munir (GreyMatter Capital)
Moderator: Tanzeem Choudhury - 11:00 – 11:20 Coffee Break
- 11:20 – 12:20 Keynote: Tech Regulatory Reform – The Case of Utah Legal Tech Sandbox
Speaker: Lucy Ricca (Stanford University)
Moderator: Qian Yang - 12:20 – 13:30 Social Lunch
- 13:30 – 14:30 Panel: Ethics, Privacy, and Responsible AI
Panelists: Richmond Wong, Ned Cooper, Steve Jackson, Ranjit Singh.
Moderator: Angel Hwang - 14:30 – 15:30 Design Sprint: Outlining a Policy Sandbox
What are the policy changes we would like to experiment?
Moderator: Richmond Wong, Qian Yang - 15:30 – 15:50 Coffee Break
- 15:50 Open-Floor Discussion
What Key Questions Would We Like to dive deeper into on Thursday?
Moderator: Andrew Campbell
There will be a break between the end of the Discussion and the Reception - 17:30 Reception
Day 4: Breakout and Deep Dive
On Day 4, participants will break into groups, each focusing on developing plans and an agenda for one specific goal of the envisioned innovation sandbox.
- 9:00 – 10:30 Group Breakfast Buffet at Castello Room, Statler Hotel
- 10:30 onwards – Breakout Group Work
Groups and topics will be decided collectively on the previous day. Each group will plan their own work, lunch, and dinner. Here are some recommended spots for food, drinks, and co-working.
Day 5: Synthesis and Deliverables
The goal of Day 5 is to share and synthesize the plans developed by each breakout group, start drafting a whitepaper, and plan the next steps.
- 8:30 Breakfast
- 9:00 Breakout Group Share-Out
Each group will present their discussion outcomes from Day 4’s breakout. - 10:00 Collaborative Work
Summit participants will collectively draft a whitepaper. - 12:00 Social Lunch (To-go boxes available)