On 7 May 2026, alignAI doctoral candidate Simay Toplu was an invited guest lecturer at Technical University of Munich as part of Prof. Christoph Lütge’s course on Ethics of Artificial Intelligence.

Entitled When Algorithms Meet the Mind: AI, Mental Health & Ethics, Ms. Toplu’s lecture opened by painting a picture of the global mental health crisis: psychological disorders are among the most prevalent and burdensome conditions worldwide, yet the vast majority of those affected cannot access adequate care. The lecture examined the structural roots of this treatment gap such as workforce shortages, pervasive stigma, geographic and physical accessibility barriers and prohibitive costs, before turning to how AI-powered tools are increasingly positioned as part of the solution.

The lecture offered an overview of the AI mental health context, distinguishing between clinician-facing tools and user-facing applications, including conversational chatbots. From there, the focus narrowed to large language models (LLMs) and the psychological mechanisms that may draw people toward them in contexts of emotional need. Ms. Toplu explored a range of theoretical frameworks to illustrate why people might engage with AI systems in deeply personal ways and what that engagement means for their wellbeing.

The lecture closed with a critical assessment of the benefits and risks these tools carry. On the risks and ethical dimensions, Ms. Toplu presented findings from her doctoral research on the ethical and legal shortcomings of AI-based mental health tools, conducted as part of her deliverable within the alignAI project.