Live data from Hacker News

Apple is working on iPhone features to help detect depression, cognitive decline

wsj.com

71–80 of 164 posts

Re: Apple is working on iPhone features to help detect depression, cognitive decline

#71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll improve that... ...detect people who might be unstable through paranoid ramblings about how Apple is out to _fill_in_the_blank_. The spice must flow to keep those stock options in Cupertino rising.

Why do I get the impression this is an attempt at being mysterious because "can't openly state something that's wrongthink!" When really no one would consider what you're vaguely implying "wrongthink" or inflammatory at all. They'd probably just consider it "normal wrong" and poorly supported by reality...

No mystery. You can simply make the claim that Apple would detect anything that's anti-Apple. Why not? It isn't like that the company has anything approaching morality, aside from perhaps the occasional craziness from the worker-drones there.

Re: Apple is working on iPhone features to help detect depression, cognitive decline

#74
post #64

I suffer from bi-polar disorder and it's been difficult to get a referral to a psychiatrist who can confirm the diagnosis. The depressive phases are easier to spot and I get medication for that when it's too bad. The thing is, there are already countless mechanisms that can track the obvious symptoms of a manic phase, but none of them have an incentive to tell you that you're suddenly spending too much. Frivolous pur…

Where hours of sleep/night is a reasonable proxy, providers of sleep tracking aren't incentivized to let you spend as much on Amazon as you can. A warning that says something like "hey, you've been getting ~2 hrs of sleep/night with no naps for the past couple days, you might want to consider doing X" would go a long way to helping me manage my symptoms.

Re: Apple is working on iPhone features to help detect depression, cognitive decline

#75

I can imagine the advertising value of watching for depression and cognitive decline. In the latter case, you could probably sell a dozen extended warranties for the same item. EZ prediction of the day. Combine depression, cognitive decline, anger, etc. values against a database of gun owners (picked up through registration, social media posts, ATF background checks, etc.). Send police to house when some crossover po…

We need a name for the equivalent of Godwin’s Law for the hypothetical situation which gets stretched then ends with ‘they want to take my guns’.

Re: Apple is working on iPhone features to help detect depression, cognitive decline

#76

I can imagine the advertising value of watching for depression and cognitive decline. In the latter case, you could probably sell a dozen extended warranties for the same item. EZ prediction of the day. Combine depression, cognitive decline, anger, etc. values against a database of gun owners (picked up through registration, social media posts, ATF background checks, etc.). Send police to house when some crossover po…

Funny how that sounds more plausible than them selling mental healthcare services. Those are extremely hard to get. Have a doctor actually help you? Nah, police raid.

I'm speaking as a second class European with experience in Belgium, UK and Germany.

Re: Apple is working on iPhone features to help detect depression, cognitive decline

#77
post #64

I suffer from bi-polar disorder and it's been difficult to get a referral to a psychiatrist who can confirm the diagnosis. The depressive phases are easier to spot and I get medication for that when it's too bad. The thing is, there are already countless mechanisms that can track the obvious symptoms of a manic phase, but none of them have an incentive to tell you that you're suddenly spending too much. Frivolous pur…

That's the neat thing, the data won't help you get better care.

Re: Apple is working on iPhone features to help detect depression, cognitive decline

#78

From what i understand, absurd overregulation prevents hundreds of diseases to be diagnosed because ... reasons. They cant add various sensors, but they happily add useless and dangerous stuff like face recognition, even if it 's harder to implemetn. You can't even get a health report based on your genetic profile anymore. Which i understand can be a problematic in the US but it s happening in europe too It is curiou…

> From what i understand, absurd overregulation prevents hundreds of diseases to be diagnosed because ... reasons. They cant add various sensors, but they happily add useless and dangerous stuff like face recognition, even if it 's harder to implemetn. You can't even get a health report based on your genetic profile anymore. Which i understand can be a problematic in the US but it s happening in europe too

Opting into [a feature] should be as easy as opting out. I for one don't mind people making their data available for analysis but to include a blanket default opt-in for everything is the very reason why "absurd overregulation" exists now.

> It is curious that they chose depression and cognitive decline because , even if you diagnose them , depression is iffy to treat and i dont know anything to prescribe for cognitive decline

Especially when depression and cognitive decline can be so subjective. For example, I think CSAM is quite objectively understood as detrimental for everyone but is it really in Apple's interest to specify a systemwide implementation for all of their product lines to combat this behavior?

Re: Apple is working on iPhone features to help detect depression, cognitive decline

#79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do I get the impression this is an attempt at being mysterious because "can't openly state something that's wrongthink!" When really no one would consider what you're vaguely implying "wrongthink" or inflammatory at all. They'd probably just consider it "normal wrong" and poorly supported by reality...

No mystery. You can simply make the claim that Apple would detect anything that's anti-Apple. Why not? It isn't like that the company has anything approaching morality, aside from perhaps the occasional craziness from the worker-drones there.

It's too early for this. Or too late. I don't know.

Not going to indulge this kind of "heavy on paranoia light on details" exchange where everything needs to be teased out.

-

Or maybe I should just take what you're saying at face value? That your assertion is Apple wants to monitor everything that everyone does that might hurt them then... arrest them with their police force? Shoot them with their army? Sic the police on them? Or maybe that's what Boston Robotics is for, mass produce their own army... hmmm.

Because if that's your fear, and it's a genuine fear that causes you distress, I implore you to seek a medical professional.

Re: Apple is working on iPhone features to help detect depression, cognitive decline

#80

Apple is working on iPhone features that, when they leak, will hurt your ability to get a job, and health insurance.

The same could be said about electronic health record software generally.

Electronic healthcare data as a phenomenon isn't going anywhere; it will only get bigger, and individuals stand to benefit tremendously from this fact as it will make early diagnoses and getting the right care at the right time more likely.

Rather than panic when we find out that another company will be handling healthcare data, we need to set high standards for engineering, security, user consent, and privacy expectations for companies working in this area.

Post reply on HN