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posted by mrpg on Tuesday November 20 2018, @06:25AM   Printer-friendly
from the is-this-good-or-bad? dept.

Submitted via IRC for takyon

Facebook Increasingly Reliant on A.I. To Predict Suicide Risk

A year ago, Facebook started using artificial intelligence to scan people's accounts for danger signs of imminent self-harm.

[...] "To just give you a sense of how well the technology is working and rapidly improving ... in the last year we've had 3,500 reports," she says. That means AI monitoring is causing Facebook to contact emergency responders an average of about 10 times a day to check on someone — and that doesn't include Europe, where the system hasn't been deployed. (That number also doesn't include wellness checks that originate from people who report suspected suicidal behavior online.)

Davis says the AI works by monitoring not just what a person writes online, but also how his or her friends respond. For instance, if someone starts streaming a live video, the AI might pick up on the tone of people's replies.

[...] "Ever since they've introduced livestreaming on their platform, they've had a real problem with people livestreaming suicides," Marks says. "Facebook has a real interest in stopping that."

He isn't sure this AI system is the right solution, in part because Facebook has refused to share key data, such as the AI's accuracy rate. How many of those 3,500 "wellness checks" turned out to be actual emergencies? The company isn't saying.


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  • (Score: 5, Funny) by rigrig on Tuesday November 20 2018, @10:59AM (2 children)

    by rigrig (5129) Subscriber Badge <soylentnews@tubul.net> on Tuesday November 20 2018, @10:59AM (#764199) Homepage

    what right does Zuckerberg have to interfere?

    He has an obligation to his customers: dead people don't click ads.

    --
    No one remembers the singer.
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 20 2018, @01:18PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 20 2018, @01:18PM (#764229)

    But dead people can win elections.

    • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday November 20 2018, @02:46PM

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday November 20 2018, @02:46PM (#764242) Journal

      It is more desirable for them to vote than to run for office, or win.

      Proposal: grave side voter registration.

      --
      People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.