{"id":140901,"date":"2026-01-12T10:39:36","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T15:39:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/?post_type=bu-article&p=140901"},"modified":"2026-01-13T08:59:50","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T13:59:50","slug":"new-humane-intelligence-framework-guides-safer-more-patient-centered-ai-in-older-adult-mental-health-care","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/news-events\/articles\/2026\/new-humane-intelligence-framework-guides-safer-more-patient-centered-ai-in-older-adult-mental-health-care\/","title":{"rendered":"New \u201cHumane Intelligence\u201d Framework Guides Safer, More Patient-Centered AI in Older-Adult Mental Health Care"},"content":{"rendered":"\t
\n\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Four\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t




This image represents life, growth, and care at the heart of Humane Intelligence. Each petal symbolizes a core pillar. The center where they meet reflects the Moral Grid\u2014a space for alignment, reflection, and ethical decision-making. The luminous glow suggests a hope: that artificial intelligence may clarify and support care\u2014illuminating without replacing the human soul.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tResearch<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNew \u201cHumane Intelligence\u201d Framework Guides Safer, More Patient-Centered AI in Older-Adult Mental Health Care<\/strong>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\u201cMoral Grid Operational Index\u201d translates the four pillars of Humane Intelligence into practical point-of-care safeguards.<\/em><\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n
\n\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
January 12, 2026<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tTwitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\tFacebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly used to identify older adults for services, support people between visits, and guide referrals and care pathways. Yet much AI governance still emphasizes algorithms and infrastructure rather than what older adults and caregivers actually experience — especially in moments of vulnerability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our hope is that this work helps health systems augment care with AI in ways that make care for older adults kinder, safer, and more personal, not colder or more mechanical.<\/p>Helen Kyomen, MD, MS<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

A Special Article in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry<\/a> offers a new, geriatric psychiatry\u2013led \u201cHumane Intelligence\u201d framework to help clinicians and health systems augment older-adult care with AI in ways that are safe, fair, and deeply human. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humane Intelligence is a patient-centered, ethically attuned, clinically grounded relational framework for designing, evaluating, and monitoring AI in older-adult care. It rests on four pillars, Relational Intelligence, Transparency with Care, Reciprocity and Consent, and Ethical Governance in Strategic Regions<\/em>, and applies them from point-of-care encounters to system-level decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Head
Helen Kyomen, MD, MS<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

To translate these principles into day-to-day practice, the article introduces the Moral Grid Operational Index<\/em>,<\/strong> which links each pillar to concrete, observable point-of-care behaviors and the kinds of evidence that show those behaviors occurred. It is intended to help teams evaluate who benefits, who is at risk, and what safeguards are needed as AI tools move from routine uses to higher-stakes settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn simple terms, we gathered what is known, added clinical wisdom, and shaped it into tools people can actually use,\u201d explains Helen H. Kyomen<\/a>, MD, MS, corresponding author and assistant professor of psychiatry at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and Medical Director of the Boston Medical Center-Brighton Geriatric Psychiatry Program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The article synthesizes current guidance and real-world clinical experience to propose an operational framework \u2013 illustrated with composite case examples built from common patterns, not identifiable patients \u2013 rather than reporting results from a single AI tool trial. [See Accepted Author Manuscript<\/a> (AAM).]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The authors developed the framework by:<\/p>\n\n\n\n