AI Companion Workshop: Community-Engaged, Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Emotional Support and Health Coaching Technologies
The AI Companion Workshop brings together scholars, clinicians, technologists, ethicists, and community partners for a focused, case-based exploration of artificial intelligence systems designed to provide emotional support and health coaching. As AI companions are increasingly used in mental health, chronic disease management, and everyday well-being, they raise critical questions about safety, trust, equity, accountability, and ethical design.
Funded by the Columbia Data Science Institute’s Frontiers in Data Science and AI initiative and sponsored by the AI for Social Good and Society (AI4SGS) Initiative, this multidisciplinary workshop will center on a shared case study. Through structured dialogue and interactive audience roundtables, participants will examine real-world tensions surrounding AI companions and consider what responsible, community-engaged AI should look like in practice. The workshop is designed to foster cross-disciplinary learning and seed future collaborations in the responsible development of AI for health and social good.
Event Details
Friday, February 27, 2026 (9:00 AM – 1:00 PM ET) In-Person
Location: Jed D. Satow Room, Alfred Lerner Hall (5th Floor) Address: 2920 Broadway, New York, NY 10027 – Map Timing: Workshop from 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM; Networking Lunch from 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
· · ─ · ─ · ·
Purpose and Approach
The workshop is designed as a multidisciplinary, community-engaged dialogue rather than a traditional conference. Participants from medicine, social work, public health, law, computer science, and philosophy will engage alongside community partners with lived experience to examine how AI companion systems are being built, deployed, and experienced in the real world.
At the center of the workshop is a shared case study that presents realistic scenarios involving AI companions used for emotional support and health coaching. Panelists will analyze the case together, drawing on their disciplinary and professional perspectives. The goal is not consensus, but a rigorous, structured exploration of tensions, including questions of clinical responsibility, user safety, algorithmic bias, emotional dependency, regulatory gaps, and ethical design.
Community-Engaged Design
A defining feature of this workshop is its community-centered co-design. Two community panelists, who have been involved in shaping the agenda and discussion questions, will participate as equal contributors alongside academic and professional experts. Their perspectives ensure that the conversation remains grounded in how AI companions are actually used, experienced, and trusted, or mistrusted, by people in everyday life. This structure reflects the AI4SGS Initiative’s commitment to justice-oriented, participatory approaches to technology development and evaluation.
Who Should Attend?
The workshop is intended for Columbia faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and affiliated scholars interested in:
Responsible and ethical AI
Digital health and mental health technologies
Human-centered and community-engaged design
Policy, regulation, and governance of AI systems
Interdisciplinary research collaborations
The session is designed to foster cross-disciplinary learning and to seed new research and practice partnerships around the future of AI companions.
If you would like to attend, please contact Erin Elliott (ee2548@columbia.edu) to inquire about the event registration.
Event Hosts & Collaborators
Lena Mamykina Associate Professor of Biomedical Informatics, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
James David HEALing Communities Study (HCS) Senior Project Director, Columbia University School of Social Work’s (CSSW) Social Intervention Group (SIG)
Nabila El-Bassel University Professor; Willma and Albert Musher Professor of Social Work, School of Social Work
Xuhai Orson Xu Assistant Professor, Biomedical Informatics, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
Steve Kilburn Projects Director, Chautauqua County Department of Mental Hygiene
Juanita Hotchkiss Director of Community & Incarcerated Programs, Ulster County Sheriff’s Office
