Problem
Research questions and friction points this paper is trying to address.
Mental Health Support
Young Adults of Color
AI Chatbots
AI Literacy
Co-Design
Co-Designing AI For Mental Health Support With Young Adults of Color (YOC): Needs, Expectations, and Implications for AI Literacy
🤖 AI Summary
This study addresses the cultural insensitivity, privacy concerns, and limited AI literacy prevalent in mental health AI systems serving youth of color. Employing a participatory co-design methodology, we conducted two-day workshops with 13 Asian, Black, and Latinx adolescents, complemented by qualitative interviews to investigate their needs and design preferences for AI chatbots. Our findings reveal how generic recommendations flatten individual lived experiences. We propose a novel framework integrating AI literacy with mental health literacy and reconceptualize the privacy calculus model. Furthermore, this work elucidates identity-based disclosure needs and expectations regarding AI accountability. Collectively, these insights offer critical guidance for developing user-centered, culturally responsive mental health AI systems that respect diverse sociocultural contexts.
📝 Abstract
Young adults of color (YOC) face heightened mental health challenges and barriers to care while navigating developmental and life transitions. Situated between youth-oriented safeguards and adult-oriented AI systems, little is known about how they use AI chatbots for mental health and well-being support or how sociocultural contexts shape their expectations, concerns, and design preferences. We conducted a two-day co-design workshop with 13 Asian, Black, and Hispanic/Latino/a young adults aged 18--24. Participants found generic chatbot advice to flatten their lived experiences; rather than making incorrect assumptions, they wanted more opportunities for identity-informed disclosure. Preferences for YOC-centered personalization also revealed gaps in privacy and AI literacy. Participants negotiated different therapeutic roles for chatbots and sought greater AI accountability and user agency, highlighting blurred boundaries between clinical and non-clinical AI-mediated support. Findings suggest directions for integrating AI literacy with mental health literacy and centering YOC's experiences in the privacy calculus.
Innovation
Methods, ideas, or system contributions that make the work stand out.
Co-design
Mental Health AI
AI Literacy
Young Adults of Color
Identity-informed Personalization
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