More Questions Than Answers

Ethical Considerations at the Intersection of Psychology and Generative Artificial Intelligence

Chenneville, Tiffany
Duncan, Brianna
Silva, Gabriella

Department of Psychology, University of South Florida
Department of Pediatrics, University of South Florida
Perinatal HIV Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Witwatersrand

Lauren Girouard-Hallam served as action editor.

There is no funding to report. The authors would like to acknowledge Elham Azamian Jazi for assisting with the literature search for this article. The authors have no known conflicts of interest to disclose.

Tiffany Chenneville served as lead for conceptualization, project administration, supervision, writing–original draft, and writing–review and editing. Brianna Duncan served as lead for resources and served in a supporting role for writing–review and editing. Gabriella Silva contributed equally to resources and served in a supporting role for writing–review and editing. Brianna Duncan and Gabriella Silva contributed equally to writing–original draft.

Tiffany Chenneville, Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, Davis Hall 117, 140 7th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, United States [email protected]

Received November 15, 2023

revised March 19, 2024

Accepted April 11, 2024

Translational Issues in Psychological Science 10(2):p 162-178, June 2024. | DOI: 10.1037/tps0000400

Psychology has changed considerably over the past several decades in response to technological advances. Changes to the profession accelerated during COVID-19, a time during which there was a rapid increase in the use of cloud-based virtual collaboration platforms (e.g., Zoom, Microsoft Teams) for telehealth services as well as virtual teaching and research activities. Technology continues to advance swiftly, and the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly generative AI (genAI), is creating profound changes in all aspects of society, including the psychology profession. With these changes come questions about how to practice ethically as a clinician, as a teacher, and as a researcher. In this article, we explore the ethical principles and standards of most relevance to genAI use in the activities of psychologists (clinical, teaching, research) across settings (private practice, hospitals, colleges/universities, research centers). Ethical issues and questions are presented within the context of the current American Psychological Association’s Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct (), which is under revision. Recommendations are provided for approaching ethical concerns amidst the rapid technological advances that are changing the way psychologists do their work.