Researchers Find New Jerseyans Want Regulations Around AI and Mental Health

Rutgers investigators observe even higher support from people who previously used chatbots for advice

Nearly 6 in 10 New Jersey adults support regulating how artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots interact with users seeking mental health advice, according to a study conducted by the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling, home of the Rutgers-Eagleton Poll, in collaboration with the Center for Health Services Research at the Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research.

The research, published in Health Affairs Scholar, explored data from a statewide poll of 1,568 adults contacted through the probability-based Rutgers-Eagleton/SSRS Garden State Panel from March 27 to March 30. The full sample has a margin of error of +/- 3.2 percentage points.

According to KFF, a nonprofit organization that focuses on national health issues and global health policy, about 1 in 6 adults in the United States report using AI chatbots for information related to mental health symptoms and advice on coping skills. However, researchers said chatbots may respond inappropriately to mental health questions.

After the suicides of a 16-year-old boy and a 29-year-old woman in 2025, conversations were found with ChatGPT detailing the individuals' mental health struggles and suicidal thoughts.

"We know people are using AI chatbots to ask about health topics and that there has been real harm done when people in mental health crisis use generative AI tools for advice or support," said Elizabeth Stone, the lead author of the study and a core member of the Center for Health Services Research at the Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research.

"Our findings indicate that most adults in New Jersey would support some state regulation of how AI chatbots respond to people in these moments and that support is even greater among people who are already using AI to ask about mental health," said Stone, who also is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Nearly three-fourths of people who used AI on mental health topics in the past reported that they would support regulating the use of AI in the context of mental health, she said.

Researchers said it is important to ensure the quality and safety of AI tools to mitigate potential harm to users. Since 2025, more than 400 bills addressing health-related use of AI have been introduced throughout the nation, but New Jersey has no regulations around the issue.

"Numbers like these don't leave much ambiguity," said Ashley Koning, an assistant research professor and director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. "On an issue that barely existed a few years ago, New Jerseyans have formed a remarkably clear and unified view. When broad agreement is paired with firsthand experience making people more supportive of oversight, not less, that's a signal policymakers should heed."

The researchers said that additional research is needed to examine how support for AI regulations differs based on the type of regulation.

Rachel Topazian of the Center for Bioethics and Humanities at the University of Colorado, Aurora, is the study's co-author.

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