EveryAILaw.comDoes Maine Act to Regulate the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Providing Certain Mental Health Services (LD 2082) require Transparency & Disclosure?
Maine • enforcing
Yes — 1 provision
Requirements at a glance
This regulation imposes 8 specific requirements for Transparency & Disclosure across 1 provision:
- Recording or transcription is a precondition — A licensee may use AI to assist in supplementary support "only when the client's therapeutic session is recorded or transcribed" (§ 2113(3))
- Written pre-use disclosure — The client or legally authorized representative must be informed in writing that AI will be used and of the specific purpose of the AI tool or system (§ 2113(3)(A)(1)-(2))
- Data lifecycle disclosure including training use — The written notice must state how session data collected by the AI will be stored, retained, used for training, and deleted upon termination of therapy or psychotherapy services (§ 2113(3)(A)(3))
- Affirmative written consent — The client or legally authorized representative must provide consent — a clear, explicit, affirmative act unambiguously communicating express, informed, voluntary, specific, and unambiguous written agreement, which may be given electronically or by initialing a specific section of the general consent-to-treatment agreement, and which is revocable (§§ 2113(1)(C), 2113(3)(B))
- Excluded consent mechanics — Consent does not include an agreement obtained by acceptance of a general or broad terms-of-use agreement or similar document that mixes AI descriptions with unrelated information, by hovering over, muting, pausing, or closing a piece of electronic content, or through deceptive actions (§ 2113(1)(C)(1)-(3))
- Consent as a gate on use — AI may provide supplementary support only to the extent the use meets the § 2113(3) requirements (§ 2113(4))
- No treatment denial for withheld consent — A licensee may not deny or refuse therapy or psychotherapy services to a client on the sole basis that the client has not consented to AI-assisted supplementary support (§ 2113(5))
- Waiver is void — Any waiver by a client of the provisions of the section is contrary to public policy and is void and unenforceable (§ 2113(11))
Written Consent and the Session-Recording Condition for Supplementary AI Support #
This is the requirement neither Vermont nor Rhode Island has: Maine permits AI supplementary support "only when the client's therapeutic session is recorded or transcribed" (§ 2113(3)). That is an affirmative surveillance precondition, not a restriction on surveillance — a practice that wants an AI scribe or progress-tracking tool must first put the session on the record. Paired with it is a consent definition (§ 2113(1)(C)) that is unusually strict even against Rhode Island's: consent must be a clear, explicit, affirmative act communicating express, informed, voluntary, specific, unambiguous written agreement, revocable by the client, and it expressly is not acceptance of a general or broad terms-of-use agreement, not hovering over, muting, pausing, or closing electronic content, and not anything obtained through deceptive actions. The disclosure at § 2113(3)(A)(3) reaches further than either sibling statute: the client must be told in writing how session data will be stored, retained, **used for training**, and deleted on termination of services — a written commitment about training-data use, made per client. And § 2113(5) bars the licensee from denying or refusing treatment because the client withheld consent, so declining AI is genuinely costless for the client and fully blocking for the licensee. Any client waiver of the section is void as contrary to public policy (§ 2113(11)), which forecloses the intake-paperwork workaround.
Requirements
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Recording or transcription is a precondition | A licensee may use AI to assist in supplementary support "only when the client's therapeutic session is recorded or transcribed" (§ 2113(3)) |
| Written pre-use disclosure | The client or legally authorized representative must be informed in writing that AI will be used and of the specific purpose of the AI tool or system (§ 2113(3)(A)(1)-(2)) |
| Data lifecycle disclosure including training use | The written notice must state how session data collected by the AI will be stored, retained, used for training, and deleted upon termination of therapy or psychotherapy services (§ 2113(3)(A)(3)) |
| Affirmative written consent | The client or legally authorized representative must provide consent — a clear, explicit, affirmative act unambiguously communicating express, informed, voluntary, specific, and unambiguous written agreement, which may be given electronically or by initialing a specific section of the general consent-to-treatment agreement, and which is revocable (§§ 2113(1)(C), 2113(3)(B)) |
| Excluded consent mechanics | Consent does not include an agreement obtained by acceptance of a general or broad terms-of-use agreement or similar document that mixes AI descriptions with unrelated information, by hovering over, muting, pausing, or closing a piece of electronic content, or through deceptive actions (§ 2113(1)(C)(1)-(3)) |
| Consent as a gate on use | AI may provide supplementary support only to the extent the use meets the § 2113(3) requirements (§ 2113(4)) |
| No treatment denial for withheld consent | A licensee may not deny or refuse therapy or psychotherapy services to a client on the sole basis that the client has not consented to AI-assisted supplementary support (§ 2113(5)) |
| Waiver is void | Any waiver by a client of the provisions of the section is contrary to public policy and is void and unenforceable (§ 2113(11)) |
Penalties
| Violation | Fine |
|---|---|
| Board discipline | A violation is subject to disciplinary action by the board pursuant to 10 M.R.S. § 8003(5) (§ 2113(8)); no dollar amounts are set in the act |
| Waiver unenforceable | A client waiver of the section's protections is void and unenforceable as contrary to public policy (§ 2113(11)) |
| Civil actions preserved | The client or the client's authorized representative may maintain an action for harm attributable to the AI use, an action for professional negligence, or seek any other remedies available under other provisions of law (§ 2113(12)) |