Cedars-Sinai Unveils AI-Powered Mental Health Therapist

Xaia, the AI-powered Mental Health Therapist has been designed with therapeutic input from clinical psychologist Robert Chernoff, in collaboration with the medical center’s Technology Ventures.

Cedars-Sinai, a Los Angeles-based medical center has designed an AI-powered chatbot called Xaia to supplement the services of mental health therapists.

Xaia is one of many ways to show how artificial intelligence is barreling its way into the burgeoning digital health sector.

According to data, digital health startups using AI accounted for an estimated $3.9 billion in funding in 2024, or 38% of the sector’s total.

Xaia, the AI-powered Mental Health Therapist has been designed with therapeutic input from clinical psychologist Robert Chernoff, in collaboration with the medical center’s Technology Ventures.

Major medical institutions in Los Angeles are embracing the trend. UCLA Health's chief AI officer Paul Lukac, said that by automating medical notes, UCLA Health is using AI to help doctors catch strokes faster, reduce hospital re-admissions, and spend more time with patients.

Keck Medicine of USC also plans to offer employees a commercial AI chat tool to support stress management, according to Dr. Steven Siegel, chief mental health and wellness officer.

Liran, a psychiatrist, said Xaia is designed to supplement, and not replace, the services of mental health therapists amid a national shortage of providers. “Even if somebody needs to be seen once a week, they may only get seen once a month,” he added.

The Xaia app draws from hundreds of therapy transcripts, both from real sessions and mock sessions created by experts to sound like an actual therapist.

So far, Xaia has been used by about 300 patients across various research studies at Cedars-Sinai, including those focused on chronic pain, alcohol use disorder, and irritable bowel syndrome, said Spiegel, director of health services research at Cedars-Sinai.