New Jersey AI mental health regulations draw majority support in Rutgers poll
A Rutgers poll found nearly 6 in 10 New Jersey adults support rules on AI chatbots that give mental health advice.
By Tom Brennan · Health & Medicine Correspondent
3 min read
New Jersey AI mental health regulations have majority public support, according to Rutgers researchers who found that nearly 6 in 10 adults in the state favor rules for how chatbots respond to people seeking mental health advice. The finding matters as more people use generative AI tools for health questions while lawmakers consider whether those systems need guardrails.
The study was conducted by the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling, home of the Rutgers-Eagleton Poll, with the Center for Health Services Research at the Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research. The research was published in Health Affairs Scholar.
Researchers analyzed a statewide poll of 1,568 adults contacted through the probability-based Rutgers-Eagleton/SSRS Garden State Panel from March 27 to March 30. Rutgers said the full sample has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.
How much support is there for AI mental health regulation in New Jersey?
Rutgers reported that support was higher among people who had already used AI for mental health topics. Elizabeth Stone, the study’s lead author and a core member of the Rutgers Center for Health Services Research, said nearly three-quarters of those users backed regulation in the mental health context.
Stone, who is also an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, said the findings show that many New Jersey adults want state oversight for chatbot responses when users are seeking advice or support during mental health concerns. She also pointed to documented harms involving people in crisis using generative AI tools.
Nationally, the use of AI chatbots for mental health information is no longer marginal. Rutgers cited KFF, a nonprofit focused on health policy, as finding that about 1 in 6 U.S. adults say they have used AI chatbots for information about mental health symptoms and coping skills.
Rutgers researchers said chatbots can respond inappropriately to mental health questions. They also noted that after the suicides of a 16-year-old boy and a 29-year-old woman in 2025, ChatGPT conversations were found that described the individuals’ mental health struggles and suicidal thoughts.
What would New Jersey AI mental health regulations cover?
The Rutgers study focused on public support for regulating how AI chatbots interact with users who ask for mental health advice. It did not identify one specific rule as the preferred approach, and the researchers said more work is needed to understand how support changes depending on the type of regulation.
That distinction is important because AI oversight can take different forms, from rules on crisis responses to requirements for warnings, referrals or limits on certain kinds of advice. Based on the Rutgers findings, the public support measured in New Jersey applies to the broad idea of regulation rather than a detailed legislative plan.
Rutgers said more than 400 bills on health-related uses of AI have been introduced across the United States since 2025. New Jersey, however, does not currently have regulations on the issue, according to the researchers.
Ashley Koning, an assistant research professor and director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, said the poll shows unusually clear public agreement on an issue that emerged only recently. She said policymakers should pay attention when people with direct experience using AI for mental health are more supportive of oversight.
Rachel Topazian of the Center for Bioethics and Humanities at the University of Colorado, Aurora, co-authored the study.
This story draws on original reporting from Medical Xpress.