AI in Mental Health Forum 2026

Brigitte spoke on a panel discussing current AI models and how people are using them, including for mental health support. She also discussed the need for regulations, evidenced based research and ethical design of AI.

Brigitte's seminar presentation was on parenting in the digital world, including AI.

https://www.eahih.org/ai-in-mental-health-forum

Webinar for the Psychosynthesis Association of Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia, (PAnzA)

Introductory Webinar

Events

Dr Viljoen spoke on a panel at The European Chatbot & Conversational AI Summit 5th Edition, which was held on 19th-20th March 2025. This panel discussed the topic of Ethics in Conversational AI and, more broadly, ethics around the development, marketing and use of AI technology for people.

https://theeuropeanchatbot.com/

Thank you to the European Chatbot and CAI Summit for a jam-packed 2 day summit. Thank you for hosting our panel discussing ethics in AI, with Dr Kulvinder Panesar moderating and my fellow panel speakers Anna Leschanowsky, Krishika Khemani and Professor Nikhil Soi.

I enjoyed thought-provoking discussions around human beings' experiences and relationships with AI and the ethics around this topic. There needs to be more discussions, and the inclusion of ethics by design in AI, to ensure the safety and wellbeing of humans and the related societal implications.

Ethics Panel: Dr Kulvinder Panesar (moderator), with Anna Leschanowsky, Krishika Khemani, Dr Brigitte Viljoen and Professor Nikil Soi

Ethics Panel: Anna Leschanowsky, Krishika Khemani, Dr Brigitte Viljoen, Dr Kulvinder Panesar and Professor Nikil Soi

Dr Brigitte Viljoen with the AMECA robot at The National Robotarium

On a tour at The National Robotarium, looking at all the research they are doing with different robots

Aotearoa AI Summit 2024

It was great to attend the Aotearoa AI Summit 2024 on the 10th September.

I had some interesting conversations with various attendees, curiously our conversation topics covered more about what people need from technology than the technology itself. Minister Judith Collins gave an informative address about government AI initiatives. It was interesting that she acknowledged she was "preaching to the converted". I am curious about the government's focus on using current legislation around privacy and human rights to address the plethora of AI technology and how it is, and could be used, in this country. I suspect the government is still not sufficiently informed about what impact AI technology can have on the people of Aotearoa New Zealand - socially, culturally, and psychologically. Aspects that are almost certainly going to impact the economy of Aotearoa New Zealand in the future.

Overall, it was an informative AI Summit and, of particular interest, were discussions around different cultures and languages.

In 2025, it would be great to see more topics being discussed around investigating and understanding the how AI social technologies and how they may impact human beings , in the long-term and considering ethics by design. At the AI Summit, I was part of a working group discussion on AI Governance - this is a space where I see these issues also being included.

Meeting Sophia the humanoid robot in Barcelona (2018)

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse