Beyond the Algorithm: Human‑Centred AI for Global Mental Health
The Beyond the Algorithm: Human-Centred AI for Global Mental Health Symposium will explore how AI can be developed and implemented responsibly to improve mental health outcomes across diverse populations and settings.
Event Details
When: October 22, 2026, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: Hybrid
In person: Dalhousie Student Union Council Chambers (Room 270), 6136 University Ave, Halifax, NS
Online: Microsoft Teams (link will be sent in advance using your registration email)
Registration
- To attend in person, register by 5 p.m. (Atlantic time), Thursday, October 15, 2026
- To attend online, register by 5 p.m. (Atlantic time), Tuesday, October 20, 2026
Hosted in partnership with the University of Toronto Temerty Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research and Education in Medicine (T-CAIREM) and the eMental Health International Collaborative (eMHIC).
About the Symposium
AI presents significant opportunities to transform mental health care, education, and research. These opportunities are particularly relevant to global mental health, where persistent gaps in access to care, specialist capacity, culturally appropriate services, and resources require innovative and scalable approaches.
At the same time, the adoption of AI in mental health raises important questions about safety, equity, ethics, privacy and data governance, cultural and linguistic relevance, bias, human oversight, implementation, and the meaningful involvement of patients, communities, and people with lived and living experience.
Realizing the potential of AI requires collaboration beyond technological development to bring together clinical expertise, data science, implementation science, health systems, communities, and lived experience.
Who is the symposium for?
- Clinicians
- Researchers
- Trainees
- AI and data-science experts
- Health-system leaders
- Community partners
- People with lived experience
Symposium Objectives:
- Showcase ongoing and emerging work at the intersection of AI and mental health
- Identify complementary expertise, infrastructure, and research strengths across participating institutions and networks
- Examine opportunities and challenges for equitable, culturally responsive, safe, and human-centred applications of AI in global mental health
- Identify priorities for interdisciplinary and cross-institutional research and training
- Develop concrete action items and opportunities for future collaborative projects, funding applications, knowledge mobilization, and implementation
Approach and Event Format
The symposium is intentionally designed as a working and relationship-building forum rather than a traditional scientific conference.
Morning Session
- Focused presentations highlighting ongoing research, innovations, and emerging opportunities
- Panel discussion
Afternoon Session
The afternoon will transition from presentation to collaboration with:
- Facilitated breakout discussions informed by participants' interests
- Reporting back
- Identifying priority actions
Discussion themes will include:
- Applications of AI and generative AI across the mental health continuum
- AI-enabled prediction
- Assessment and personalized care
- Digital mental health and scalable interventions
- Responsible AI, safety and human oversight
- Equity and bias
- Cultural and linguistic adaptation
- Data governance and privacy
- Community and lived-experience partnership
- Implementation within health systems
- Capacity building for AI and global mental health
After the Symposium
Anticipated outcomes:
- Develop a collaborative network and actionable agenda for AI and global mental health
- Identify shared research priorities, potential collaborative, research, and learning opportunities, and practical pathways for translating responsible AI innovations into mental health services and communities
- Move toward a model of AI innovation in mental health that is scientifically rigorous, clinically meaningful, ethically responsible, culturally responsive, equitable, and human-centred
Questions?
Email cgmh@dal.ca