The COVID-19 pandemic brought about greater awareness of an even larger epidemic, one of loneliness in America. In higher education, it is incumbent on us to help our learners with overcoming the pain and other ill-effects of this condition. It is encouraging that efforts are being made by many such responsible professionals and organizations in the field to develop AI tools that can help the nearly 1 billion people the WHO reports are affected. This is one of the areas of great potential for AI, but also one in which great caution must be taken. How is your university responding to the mental health needs of your distant, online students? Have you found ways to balance the good that might be done with the health dangers to individuals that may be caused by well-intended but inadequate or inappropriate responses?
