The world of technology has evolved immensely in the past decade and Facebook has just announced how it plans to use artificial intelligence in its latest tool to monitor behaviors on the social media site and prevent suicides.
Facebook Introduces New Technology that Could Save Lives
Facebook introduces a new technology which is able to classify Facebook posts that are related to different suicidal thoughts.
Social media plays an important role in people’s lives and it is often the tool most of us use to express our thoughts and feelings – but what if there was a way to interpret people’s words through artificial intelligence and identify individuals who are at a risk of committing suicide? Facebook announced the release of a lifesaving technology that has a huge potential of lowering suicide rate across the world and save thousands of lives.
It’s impossible to guess how the new tool will work since Facebook has revealed very little information about it. Experts in the field of artificial intelligence have shown signs of shock and concern upon hearing the news, fearing that the latest advancement made by the social media giant may interfere in users’ privacy and put their safety at risk.
Facebook’s efforts to focus on important issues like suicide prevention have been commended by many. The lack of transparency when it comes to revealing the algorithm behind the life-saving tool, has left many experts questioning the tool.
One professor from Georgia Tech weighed in on the sensitivity of the situation by saying that the new AI tool isn’t like any other that Facebook’s ever designed. It deals with a very serious issue and someone’s survival could depend on it.
Can this latest advancement made by the social media giant interfere in users’ privacy and even put their safety at risk?
Facebook is Hesitant to Share the Algorithm Behind the Tool
The vice president of Facebook’s project management team, Guy Rosen, talked about the effectiveness of the new tool in a recent interview. He explained how the AI tool uses information like user’s post, the time of the post and other concerned comments or messages from family members to determine if the user is in a mental health crisis and needs urgent help.
However, Rosen refrained from giving any in-depth details about algorithm used in the technology. The social media company has partnered up with several suicide prevention organizations in order to learn the patterns in behavior and speech of people who are at a risk of committing suicide.
Upon identifying an individual at risk, a human reviewer at Facebook performs a thorough check to confirm the threat and gets in touch with the user to offer help. Using the data from the researches, the tech company has taught its new tool to pick up on any cues in users’ behavior that may indicate that they need help.
For example, the tool will be able to detect the urgency in a user’s tone if they say that they need to talk to a therapist or if they use words like ‘ibuprofen’ which can predict a person’s need for a counselor or emergency services. Rosen said that when time comes, Facebook will be completely transparent about the technology being used behind this innovative tool.
Can a Facebook Post Save Someone’s Life?
Facebook is the biggest social media platform in the world with over 2 billion users, and it also has the largest content database including the posts made by individuals prior to committing suicide. Experts say that if the social media company shares the information it has on language and thought pattern of those at risk of suicide, it could be of tremendous help to other researchers in the field of suicide prevention.
Some people are concerned that the new tool could backfire and discourage people from sharing posts that show their emotional vulnerability. In other cases, the new technology’s interference in people’s personal lives could stir a feeling of mistrust and paranoia among users. It is also impossible to tell how accurate the new tool’s algorithm will be. The subject of mental health and suicide is a sensitive issue and if Facebook wrongly identifies users at risk, it could start a new problem.
One organization called Crisis Text Line, which provided Facebook with resourceful information and data to develop Al, has tested the new tool and shared its feedback with the public. The chief data scientist for the organization said that Facebook is the most well-equipped to create a suicide prevention technology due to it’s large database and number of users on the website.
Facebook says that it will perform its duty of providing valuable information to those at risk of suicide including emergency contact services but, the human reviewers will not maintain contact with the users.
