The aim of the article is to enable a fundamental understanding of the potentials and requirements of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for psychiatrists in the present and for the development of future working environments. Psychiatrists will need to understand the function of AI-systems and personalized AI-assistants in therapy systems and as part of their patients’ daily life.
The article provides an overview of basic categories and fields of application of AI and machine learning in the diagnosis, prevention and therapy of mental disorders.
AI-applications will shape the prevention, diagnosis and treatment as well as the basic etiological understanding of mental disorders. Notably, the treatment of mental disorders is significantly influenced by commercial product development and assistance systems outside the medical system, as the corresponding developments can exploit large data pools with significantly lower restrictions.
Psychiatrists should now seize the opportunity to actively shape the implementation of AI-systems as otherwise key competences could be transferred to a primary field outside the medical system to the detriment of the patient and the therapist.

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