Balancing Tradition and Innovation With AI in Psychology

AI is increasingly used in research, clinical work, and healthcare, bringing both excitement and uncertainty about ethics, biases, and overreliance. The term “artificial intelligence” was first used in 1955 at the Dartmouth Research Conference, aiming to describe learning and other intelligence features precisely enough for machines to simulate them. Since then, AI has been integrated into science and medicine through systems based on if-then technology, antibiotic recommendation approaches, electronic health record tools for efficiency and decision support, and more recent deep learning and generative models such as recurrent neural networks and language learning models. AI also supports rehabilitation through adaptive cognitive training programs that track performance and provide real-time feedback, and through assessment and screening technologies that collect data for cognitive and psychological disorders.

"Artificial intelligence (AI) was not a formal or informal part of my graduate school training, yet AI is increasingly utilized in present research, clinical work, and healthcare. While it brings excitement and possibility, it also elicits feelings of uncertainty about ethics, biases, and overreliance in the field and beyond."

"The term “artificial intelligence ” was first used in 1955 at the Dartmouth Research Conference, organized by John McCarthy, the goal of which was to “proceed on the basis of the conjecture that every aspect of learning or any other feature of intelligence can in principle be so precisely described that a machine can be made to simulate it” (McCarthy et al., 1955). Current definitions of AI refer to the system or digital interface that is created to mimic human intelligence to perform tasks."

"Since 1955, forms of AI have been integrated into the field of science and medicine, ranging from a Stanford's research group's computer system built on “if-then” technology, to recommending antibiotics for various infectious diseases in the 1970s, to the development of electronic health record tools to improve efficiency and decision support in the 1990s and early 2000s, and recently developed deep learning and generative models that we know today (e.g., recurrent neural networks, language learning models [LLMs] (Alnattah et al., 2025)."

"With the seismic boom of AI in the modern age, it is easy to forget that it expands beyond LLMs such as ChatGPT, Meta, and Grok. For example, computer or app-based cognitive training programs that utilize adaptive algorithms, track performance, and provide real-time feedback can be incorporated into cognitive rehabilitation, allowing for additional practice and consolidation outside of in-person sessions. AI-based assessments and screening technology for cognitive and psychological disorders are being integrated into some healthcare systems for data collection."

Read at Psychology Today