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Digital frontlines: leveraging AI to augment human expertise in crisis and combat situations

Neuropsychopharmacology volume 51, pages 339–340 (2026)Cite this article

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There is growing evidence that digital mental health innovations - including smartphone applications, virtual reality platforms, and more recently, large language models (LMMs) can augment and extend mental health care delivery when implemented with appropriate design, contextual adaptation, and governance [1]. Protracted armed conflicts, such as the ongoing war in Ukraine, place high demands on mental health professionals who must operate in austere, high-risk, and rapidly changing environments. Clinicians in these contexts face sustained operational stress, prolonged uncertainty, and moral complexity, while often working within fragmented support systems. Decision-making in such circumstances - whether regarding triage prioritization, medical evacuation, return-to-duty assessments, or psychological stabilization - is rarely straightforward [2].

In this challenging landscape, Artificial Intelligence (AI)-assisted decision-support systems, particularly those powered by generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), have recently been proposed as potential tools to support clinical reasoning and maintain consistency of care [3]. Such systems can offer structured reasoning, differential diagnostic suggestions, and evidence informed prompts designed to reduce cognitive burden, especially under time pressure or in resource-limited conditions. A key advantage of AI is its inherent scalability, which may be especially valuable in crisis contexts marked by high personnel turnover, limited clinical oversight, and widespread exposure to trauma and moral distress. Adaptive AI models - trained on operational guidelines, psychological protocols, and locally relevant heuristics - can potentially support both seasoned clinicians and newly deployed personnel, thereby reducing variation in care across units and timeframes. Early field deployments in Ukraine have illustrated promising use cases, where these tools were tailored to standardize judgments on mental readiness screening, psychological stabilization, and evacuation logistics [4].

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Acknowledgements

An AI writing assistant was used to support first-draft structuring and language clarity, in accordance with Nature Portfolio policy. This was awarded through the NATO Science for Peace and Security Programme based Advance Research Workshop G6192 ‘Digital Tools for Prevention, Mitigation, and Treatment of Traumatic Stress Responses in Terror and War - Contemporary Practices and Novel Insights’ September 10-13, 2024, Tbilisi Georgia.

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  1. Department Psychiatry, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Eric Vermetten

  2. Department of Psychiatry, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA

    Isaac Galatzer-Levy

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  1. Eric Vermetten
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  2. Isaac Galatzer-Levy
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E.V. and I.G.L. wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to Eric Vermetten.

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E.V. has nothing to disclose. I.G.L. receives salary and shares from Google LLC.

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Vermetten, E., Galatzer-Levy, I. Digital frontlines: leveraging AI to augment human expertise in crisis and combat situations. Neuropsychopharmacol. 51, 339–340 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-025-02223-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-025-02223-y

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