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Facebook deploys AI for early signs of suicide

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Re: Facebook deploys AI for early signs of suicide

#11
post #5

I wonder how they build up their training set? That couldnt have been that easy.

You're assuming it will be anywhere close to accurate. Knowing Facebook's previous attempts at AI, I wouldn't expect much. I wonder what the false positive rate will be. "Dave, you should stop thinking about killing yourself!" - "But...I wasn't thinking about killing myself?!" "Come on, Dave, deep down you know you want to. You can't fool me! I know everything about you." "- Well, now that I think about it, watching…

>Knowing Facebook's previous attempts at AI

Curious what these were.

Re: Facebook deploys AI for early signs of suicide

#15
This may or may not be a useful technology, but the fact that Facebook thinks they have the ability and the right to diagnose their users with mental illnesses is disturbing. They have more information about their users than psychologists have about their patients. They can (and do) build a psychological profile and diagnose mental illness. Yet rather than keeping this information in the closest confidence, they sell it to the highest bidder. They can (and do) run experiments without getting informed consent (or any consent).

They're playing psychologist and should be subject to a similar code of ethics.

Another interesting article:

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/201...

Re: Facebook deploys AI for early signs of suicide

#17
post #6

I totally support this, but I also find it ironic that Facebook would 1) make lots of people sad and then 2) monitor them for suicidal ideation. https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/04/12/facebook_makes_you_...

I see the irony as well, but from a purely business standpoint, it makes sense. If Facebook gains and keeps a reputation of being intensely bad for mental health, it will lose market share in the long run as regulation passes limiting its scope.

Re: Facebook deploys AI for early signs of suicide

#19
This is an unbelievably slippery slope. It has the potential for great good, but also for great harm. Cliched and click-bait phrases, but I believe they are accurate in this instance. I'll try to explain why I believe that.

A case has been made that Facebook users are not the customers, they are the product, and that data purchasers and advertisers are the customers. If Facebook can determine whether you are suicidal then it might determine other psychological conditions such as agoraphobia, alcoholism, depression, ADD, SAD, etc.

Once that determination is made and stored the possibility exists that it could be hacked or exposed in a data breach.

The possibility also would exist for Facebook to sell that information, and/or to target users with medical adds related to their condition. I am not saying Facebook would do this, I'd like to think they wouldn't - I have friends at Facebook, though they aren't in management.

However, the decision of whether to allow this has to be based not on whether it's safe to trust Facebook with this information, but on whether it is safe to trust any company with it.

What happens if there is a false positive for suicidal tendencies or another condition?

Take this to the absurd extreme and consider how it compares to the Pre-Crime operations depicted in the movie Minority Report. Instead of Oracles we have Machine Learning intelligent software agents. Most of the problems depicted in the movie could arise.

To a lesser extreme, imagine the situation when a false positive occurs for a user in a position of public trust, a government official, or a defense contractor with a clearance. I'll assume this triggers action in some way that is visible to some combination of the user, psychology professionals, authorities, and an employer - otherwise why do it. If the employer in any way catches wind of the determination they might very well take steps to flag and/or terminate the employee.

Even if the employer doesn't flag the employee or terminate them, if the information is purchasable or discoverable in any way then an insurance company could conceivably raise the user's rates based on the determination.

I am all for advancing technology, especially in the field of AI, but when we apply that technology we need to ask not just if we can use the technology in that way, but also if we should.

Re: Facebook deploys AI for early signs of suicide

#20
Wonderful example of how we can use AI for good.

Now, if this catches on, I can see Facebook adapting their algorithm to recommend treatments for depression, anxiety, even ADHD. This would be a huge success. "Mr. Smith, I see Facebook's AI considers you a strong candidate for medication X and your doctor agrees. Can you explain then why you haven't been taking medication X?"

Also, if an algorithm can detect when a person is likely to commit suicide, can it detect when a person is likely to commit rape? Arson? Murder? If most of society views this as an achievement they'll scoff at comparisons with a book written in the middle of the 20th century (that was made into a movie starring Tom Cruise in 2002). "It's not the same... AT ALL!"

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