Artificial intelligence tools show promise as a mental health resource but may also pose major safety concerns, according to research from the University of Southern California’s Viterbi School of Engineering released Tuesday. The new USC study suggests that all the large language models (LLMs) they tested showed “strong performance in general communication, receiving high ratings for overall quality, empathy and specificity from the mental health professionals who evaluated the responses.” However, the LLMs tested by the USC researchers were flagged for “providing varying levels of unauthorized medical advice,” which raises “significant” safety concerns. (RELATED: Artificial Intelligence May Change American Healthcare Forever, Study Suggests)LLMs are AI systems that can understand and pro