The Fit Check for Therapists
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Inside Ash's guardrails and gateway-to-human-support design, with Dr. Rachel Wood
On The Fit Check for Therapists, Slingshot's Daniel Cahn and cyberpsychologist Dr. Rachel Wood discussed building AI for mental health responsibly, including Ash's seven layers of guardrails and its design as a gateway that points people toward human support.
In a conversation hosted by The Fit Check for Therapists, Slingshot AI co-founder Daniel Cahn and cyberpsychologist Dr. Rachel Wood, founder of the AI Mental Health Collective, discussed how AI for mental health should be built. Cahn described Ash as a specialized, fit-for-purpose model rather than a general chatbot, designed to challenge users rather than simply validate them and guided by self-determination theory's pillars of autonomy, competency, and relatedness. He detailed Slingshot's safety approach, including seven layers of guardrails, classifiers that monitor conversations for risk, and clear limits such as not serving users under 18 or those needing higher levels of care. Cahn framed Ash as a gateway that helps people build skills and find human support, recounting a user in a domestic-abuse situation who credited Ash with helping them reach lifesaving resources.
