Participatory Research with Youth for Responsible AI in the Netherlands: The Perspective and Design Requirements of Youth from Diverse Backgrounds for an AI-Based Digital Mental Health App

Artificial intelligence (AI) based mental health apps, especially chatbots, are increasingly being developed for youth, but rarely with their input, especially that of marginalised groups. This results in the development of apps that have low engagement and pose safety concerns. We use participatory methods to explore the preferences and design requirements of youth who face social exclusion, come from migrant backgrounds, or have low socioeconomic positions. We recruited 64 youths from youth work programs around the Netherlands and carried out 6 workshops. The first three explored the use of apps and large language models (LLMs) for well-being, while the last explored youth’s preferences for an LLM chatbot. Data was analysed thematically. Our results showed participants were open to using apps, preferring multifunctional apps, and identified human connection, self-development, and education as potential functions. However, they were reluctant to use chatbots, perceiving them as fake and lacking emotional intelligence. Instead, participants saw chatbots as providers of information, favouring shorter outputs with simple language, although they disagreed on how human-like chatbots should sound. Finally, the need for personalisation was emphasised, showing a desire for control with extensive customisation settings and clear privacy policies. Further work must be done to explore other relevant stakeholders’ views.