Dr. Angelica Lim

Potentially Harmful Consequences of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Chatbot Use Among Patients With Mental Illness: Early Data From a Large Psychiatric Service System Click on the article title to read more.

Potentially Harmful Consequences of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Chatbot Use Among Patients With Mental Illness: Early Data From a Large Psychiatric Service System - Wiley Online Library (Feb 6, 2026) onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Which day is your talk? I will be there and would like to attend!

Last Friday, our "Women in AI Research" event brought together many talented young women! We were amazed by the level of discussion and project ideas the teams came up with!

Grateful to the organizers @petitegeek.bsky.social's Rosie Lab & #WiCS and our sponsors #WiCS & @wimlworkshop.bsky.social

Protecting Our Kids from Social Media Addiction Act - Wikipedia

It looks like an act to ban social media companies from using infinite scroll was challenged for 'freedom' reasons. But even a "Hey. You've been using ChatGPT non-stop for 3 hours. Take a break?" would be good, no?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protect...

High salt, sugar, fat. Canada now warns you about food we crave. Our bodies need these substances in moderate doses and they give short term satisfaction. But they're bad for our health in large quantities over long periods of time. Why not similar policies over what we crave emotionally?

"How do I know I'm not dreaming right now?" asks kiddo over breakfast.

Still convinced that kids ask the best questions. What would you answer?

SoftBank robot Pepper recognized by Guinness as 1st mass-produced humanoid SoftBank Robotics Corp.'s "Pepper" robot has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's first mass-produced humanoid service robot, the company said Monday.

Jerome Monceaux, who was my boss at SoftBank Robotics when we worked on Pepper, is way ahead with his new Miroki robot at enchanted tools. Has a catch built-in if ever the power fails. He is decades ahead, having led the teams on the first mass produced humanoid
english.kyodonews.net/articles/-/6...

I'm reminded of some episodes of pluribus 🫠

Ooh, thank you!

Orbitofrontal cortex, my new cortical area obsession. In the PFC, integrates emotion and decision-making. Necessary for VTA neurons to produce dopaminergic reward prediction error. Implicated in multiple psychiatric disorders. 🧐

Continuing a neurobiology course this Winter. Today I learned about Eric Kandel's Nobel prize winning work on modeling the neural learning system of the aplysia sea slug. From interaction, to molecules, to CREB for long-term learning, to behaviour -- absolutely fascinating!

Honestly, these questions from kids were better than ones I had from journalists.

...But as a scientist I can be curious about how we could describe emotions to the level of detail of an algorithm. And if we do that, we could help support research in mental health through computational modeling.

Agreed. Fun fact: I was just on CBC taking questions from kids. One of them furiously asked: We looked up your research. Why do you think robots with emotions or sentience would ever be a good idea? I replied, I don't think it's a good idea...

Inside the incredible, infuriating quest to explain consciousness Will brain science deliver answers about consciousness or hit another wall?

Prediction: In 10 years, “hardest problem” articles like this will shift from the challenge of ”C and perception“ to “C and emotions/mood“. The first is fascinating. The second is required to understand psychiatric functions & conditions.

www.scientificamerican.com/article/what...

Social Reasoning and the Ecology of Thought | IVADO

Social Reasoning and the Ecology of Thought ivado.ca/en/events/so...

This workshop looks neat -- anyone else here attending?

Individually the humans think they're performing mundane tasks and don't know how their actions contribute to a larger storyline.

There is a very good (and terrifying) sci-fi show named Mrs Davis where AI hires groups of human proxies in elaborate schemes.

Pulled this off my shelf this morning. From Stuart Russell's 2019 book, the Principles of Beneficial Machines.

Can you teach a robot empathy? This SFU researcher is trying to find out | CBC News Dr. Angelica Lim, an associate professor of computing science at Simon Fraser University, leads a team that is trying to make robots more empathetic so humans are able to interact with them more seaml...

Thankful to CBC for capturing my recent thoughts on empathy, robotics and AI www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Reminds me a bit of developmental robotics? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Develop...

The risks of AI in schools outweigh the benefits, report says A new report warns that AI poses a serious threat to children's cognitive development and emotional well-being.

"Governments have a responsibility to regulate the use of AI in schools, making sure that the technology being used protects students' cognitive and emotional health, as well as their privacy."

(more recommendations at the end of the article)

www.npr.org/2026/01/14/n...

Two orgs in Canada doing important community work on AI psychosis. Check them out:
thehumanlineproject.org
aimhproject.org

Nicole Rust Nicole RustDirector of Visual Memory LabDepartment of PsychologyUniversity of Pennsylvania A New-New Intellectual Framework for PsychiatryIn 1998, Eric Kandel published the brilliant essay&n...

Recently posted: A video of this talk, intended to trigger conversations.

Please consider watching as a group, followed by a discussion of next steps for psychiatry-related research with your community. Discussions like these are crucial for progress.

mediacentral.princeton.edu/media/Nicole...

UBC IDEA lab Postdoctoral Fellow Position (Computer Science) Care robots have the potential to offer useful support in long-term care. We are seeking a highly motivated Postdoctoral Fellow with a strong background in computer science or engineering to lead the ...

We are hiring a Postdoctoral Fellow with a computer science or engineering background to lead the technical development and real-world implementation of autonomous mobile robot assistants in long-term care settings. Learn more and apply: www.postdocs.ubc.ca/ad/58967

🥳🥳🥳

Anat Perry and Daryl Cameron, celebrating completing the book

As we launch into 2026, we are excited to announce a major milestone: my wonderful colleague @anatperry.bsky.social and I have just submitted our edited volume Empathy and Artificial Intelligence: Challenges, Advances, and Ethical Considerations to @universitypress.cambridge.org. 1/n

Hypofrontality - Wikipedia

Oh shit, "Hypofrontality is known to be a condition associated with the disorders listed below... schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder..." 🧐 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypofro...

Because, "people in a state of flow report content that is consistent with decreased prefrontal function, such as the disappearance of self-consciousness, no worry of failure, a sense of timelessness, and no distractions (see below). Thus, flow is a state of hypofrontality".

Neurocognitive mechanisms underlying the experience of flow Recent theoretical and empirical work in cognitive science and neuroscience is brought into contact with the concept of the flow experience. After a b…

Do we think AI chatbots can induce a flow state? Flow: a challenging task that demands intense concentration and commitment, contains clear goals, provides immediate feedback, and is perfectly matched to the person’s skill level. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...