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Instagram photos reveal predictive markers of depression

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Re: Instagram photos reveal predictive markers of depression

#51

Post by cirgue »

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #49
have_faith wrote: post #23

User, it appears you are trying to upload a photo displaying negative emotions. Please upload a new photo expressing a happiness quotient of at least .75 as per terms and conditions.

It's possible and mutually beneficial to instead send that user targeted ads for therapy, suicide hotline etc...which is effectively what happens. The cynical dystopian insinuation around technology, on a technology site no less, is getting old.

>The cynical dystopian insinuation around technology, on a technology site no less, is getting old.

A technology site is exactly the place for cynicism about technology. The idea of seeing an ad for a suicide hotilne on a social media site is even more distopian than the op's crack about mandatory happiness.

Re: Instagram photos reveal predictive markers of depression

#52

Post by confounded »

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #49
have_faith wrote: post #23

User, it appears you are trying to upload a photo displaying negative emotions. Please upload a new photo expressing a happiness quotient of at least .75 as per terms and conditions.

It's possible and mutually beneficial to instead send that user targeted ads for therapy, suicide hotline etc...which is effectively what happens. The cynical dystopian insinuation around technology, on a technology site no less, is getting old.

It's not about technology. It's about power, capital, and society.

We already know that Facebook/Instagram can manipulate your real-world emotions and thoughts by what it chooses to show you.

We also know that susceptibility to ads for different products varies depending on emotional state and context (pre 'surveillance capitalism' it was well known that you could get much bettter responses to aspirational products as the weekend approached, and to products like make-up on Sunday evenings as the work-dread sets in).

The question is, if you have a load of high-value inventory to shift, but your audience isn't susceptible to it, why not treat this as an optimization problem and make them?

It's the right thing to do for your shareholders, completely legal, and near undetectable.

Re: Instagram photos reveal predictive markers of depression

#54

Post by matthewmacleod »

graphememes wrote: post #38
jogjayr wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait so they didn't actually go back and see if the people they identified as depressed had a diagnosis of clinical depression?

What, you thought this was an actual scientific study?

It literally is a peer-reviewed scientific study. Middlebrow cynical dismissals are boring.

Re: Instagram photos reveal predictive markers of depression

#55

Post by AndrewKemendo »

cirgue wrote: post #51
AndrewKemendo wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's possible and mutually beneficial to instead send that user targeted ads for therapy, suicide hotline etc...which is effectively what happens. The cynical dystopian insinuation around technology, on a technology site no less, is getting old.

>The cynical dystopian insinuation around technology, on a technology site no less, is getting old. A technology site is exactly the place for cynicism about technology. The idea of seeing an ad for a suicide hotilne on a social media site is even more distopian than the op's crack about mandatory happiness.

A technology site is exactly the place for cynicism about technology.

I disagree, because I think we need to be the idealists and drivers instead of those pushing back, but I also don't think yours is necessarily an unreasonable position to have.

The idea of seeing an ad for a suicide hotilne on a social media site is even more distopian than the op's crack about mandatory happiness

I'm not sure I follow why. Ideally an offline social network (like your friends and family) would correctly infer your mental state from interactions and be able to intervene appropriately. A digital social network, where your friends and family, as well as the digital homunculus are all observing your activity should be able to infer your mental state as well, if not better than the offline system and intervene where necessary as well.

Re: Instagram photos reveal predictive markers of depression

#57

Post by AndrewKemendo »

confounded wrote: post #52
AndrewKemendo wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's possible and mutually beneficial to instead send that user targeted ads for therapy, suicide hotline etc...which is effectively what happens. The cynical dystopian insinuation around technology, on a technology site no less, is getting old.

It's not about technology. It's about power, capital, and society. We already know that Facebook/Instagram can manipulate your real-world emotions and thoughts by what it chooses to show you. We also know that susceptibility to ads for different products varies depending on emotional state and context (pre 'surveillance capitalism' it was well known that you could get much bettter responses to aspirational products a…

The question is, if you have a load of high-value inventory to shift, but your audience isn't susceptible to it, why not treat this as an optimization problem and make them?

Susceptibility to action is binary. If the audience isn't susceptible then they won't ever convert, or take action.

I'll never buy a Yoni Egg [1], and no amount of targeting or putting advertisements in front of me will cause me to make a purchase of one.

However there might be a world in which I would buy a box of feminine products, even though I am a man. For example if my daughter is sick or incapable of getting them for herself. In which case, a social or other network knowing that

1. I have a daughter

2. That she is sick

3. What her time based need of these products is

4. That there is a preference for a certain product in this category

5. I can get the product cheaply or easily

Makes my life easier, by saying: "Hey [user] we see that you may be in a scenario that this particular product/service would be helpful right now"

Even though at that point I might not even know that I need to help get that when I go to the store because of social anxiety or embarrassment preventing from asking.

So yes, I believe in an all seeing all knowing AI god that will guide and optimize our behaviors. That is not a sarcastic comment.

[1]https://yoniegg.com/what-are-yoni-eggs/

Re: Instagram photos reveal predictive markers of depression

#58

Post by revmoo »

ringaroundthetx wrote: post #46
have_faith wrote: post #23

User, it appears you are trying to upload a photo displaying negative emotions. Please upload a new photo expressing a happiness quotient of at least .75 as per terms and conditions.

Please read the article and contribute something useful instead of your off-broadway Black Mirror episode. The algorithm didn't focus much on emotions of the subjects in the photos.

Rude...

Re: Instagram photos reveal predictive markers of depression

#60

Post by ada1981 »

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #49
have_faith wrote: post #23

User, it appears you are trying to upload a photo displaying negative emotions. Please upload a new photo expressing a happiness quotient of at least .75 as per terms and conditions.

It's possible and mutually beneficial to instead send that user targeted ads for therapy, suicide hotline etc...which is effectively what happens. The cynical dystopian insinuation around technology, on a technology site no less, is getting old.

Or cigarettes, booze, porn, divorce attorney, higher education, jewelry, sports cars, psychiatry, etc...

There are plenty of profitable industries built on the backs of people's mental unrest that has nothing to do with making them well.

Why do you think this technology would be deployed only aligned with the best interests of the users?

My guess is that it would optimize for the most proftiable behavior for the owner of the capital.

A free or cheap solution would not have the ROI a palliative / ongoing treatment would.

Why do you think depressed people are almost never given the option of writing gratitude letters, or are given drugs shown to increase the symptoms they proport to treat in the long term?

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