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Latino people receive mental health treatment at a lower rate than U.S. adults overall. Today, experts say chatbots could fill that gap — though the technology brings its own complications.
Daniel Enrique Jimenez, a clinical psychologist and associate professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, researches mental illness stigma in older Latino communities.
“If we, as mental health providers, just wait and be like, ‘I speak Spanish, come,’ the reality is that not a lot will,” he said.
For older Hispanic individuals, mental illness can be seen as a character weakness. If someone does not get out of bed and go to work, the reaction is often to question, “What is wrong with you?” he said.
The perception of mental illness as a personality flaw to be fixed prevents Latino people from understanding mental illness, like any physical sickness, needs to be treated by a doctor, he said.
Some people also mistakenly think leaving their home country is the root of their psychological distress, he added. Migration can act as “the match that lit the fire” of someone’s mental illness, but that perspective alone fails to account for someone’s genetic predispositions.
Due to the stigma, language and cultural barriers that discourage Hispanic individuals from seeking mental health care, and the scarcity of resources and interpreters, the rise of AI has the potential to shift mental health care services, he said.
“AI provides this tool of ‘OK, now we can put mental health services in the hands of people that ordinarily wouldn’t or couldn’t,’” Jimenez said.
The tool could reduce cost, especially to those without insurance, and expand access to those who struggle or feel stigma around attending therapy, he said.
Despite these benefits, the integration of AI raises concerns in the health care community.
“You’re telling things to this chatbot that you wouldn’t tell a soul,” Jimenez said.
He said the system is incapable of empathy, restricting it from providing comfort during times of vulnerability. Simultaneously, this personal data becomes available for the chatbot to collect and use in various ways beyond the user’s control.
Jimenez said AI integration in health care is probably unavoidable, and health care professionals, researchers and policymakers should prioritize developing effective regulatory frameworks for its use.
“I’m not trying to be like, ‘I am anti-AI, or I am pro-AI.’ People are using it, and they are using it in this manner,” he said. “So, how can we make sure that all these things are being done and that these tools are being used safely and effectively?”
María Laura Mecías, a professor at the UF department of Spanish and Portuguese studies and certified interpreter at the UF Equal Access Clinic Network, said the ongoing shortage of mental health resources is more pronounced for patients who do not speak English.
In her work as an interpreter, Mecías often sees doctors try to refer Latino patients to Spanish-speaking counseling services, but available options are scarce. The use of translation tools or AI to help validate symptoms can help bridge this gap with the patient, she said.
However, she pointed to recent studies conducted in Spain that suggest AI systems can reinforce, or even amplify, stereotypes when those biases are embedded in their training data.
“If one feeds a model with biases, it can become very generalistic and cannot properly identify ‘well, this person is different, this context is different,’” Mecías said.
Cultural differences can be overlooked when AI fails to see the intersectionality that shapes a patient, she said.
Some mental illnesses are understood and diagnosed in American patients through specific symptom criteria and checklists, but they do not always present the same for Latino patients, she said. In the case of depression, for example, she said many Hispanic individuals cannot simply stop working or stay home despite struggling with the condition.
“They are not crying … but it’s still depression,” Mecías said.
Other uses for AI in Latino healthcare
Mecías noted resources at UF are relatively accessible for students, but she said the situation is different in the broader Gainesville community.
For example, according to Mecías, Shands Hospital has only one full-time and one part-time Spanish interpreter serving its patient population. Additionally, translated materials, such as patient registration forms, are sometimes offered in a limited number of languages, and even those translations reach a limit where the patient cannot proceed in any language other than English, she said.
Mecías believes AI translations can be helpful but can be absent of a human voice and cultural understanding. If AI is used, she added, it should help patients find existing professional resources that meet their specific needs, rather than replace therapy and translation services.
Dylan Siegel, a 20-year-old UF Chinese foreign languages and literatures sophomore who speaks English, Portuguese, Spanish, Mandarin, Creole and basic Vietnamese, said language barriers can prevent individuals from fully expressing themselves in the specific words that translation or AI tools can't capture.
He said this is especially important in therapy, where linguistic nuance can shape diagnosis and care. But the use of AI could reduce the need for clinicians with both medical training and fluency in multiple languages.
Still, the need for bilingual caretakers will ensue even if their value declines, he said.
“The whole reason for therapy is interpersonal communication, and without human connection, what is stopping [people] from using AI?” he asked.
Trust between the provider and the patient, he added, is ultimately crucial.
“If you have someone who can fully understand you — not just a robot — it’s more important. … You need that person you can relate to,” he said. “You can’t make an AI human.”
Contact Ariana Badra at abadra@alligator.org. Follow her on X @arianavbm.
Ariana is a first-year journalism major and an El Caimán reporter for the Fall of 2025. In her free time, she enjoys reading, spending time with friends and scouring for new songs to play on repeat to an absurd degree.
