AI isn’t just taking jobs, it’s saving lives.
According to the World Health Organization, 800,000 people lose their lives to suicide each year. This number has remained fairly consistent year over year, but innovations in artificial intelligence and machine learning could help change this.
AI researchers have had a big year in 2017 with the creation of multiple technologies intended to help prevent suicide. Facebook, the AI Buddy Project, Bark.us, and most recently a joint effort by Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh have all made technologies with the potential to decrease the number of suicide-related deaths. Although an AI will never replace the emotional connection and support humans provide in a time of crisis, the innovations we’ve seen this past year could help health care providers, friends, and family members detect suicidal tendencies in their patients and loved ones before it’s too late.
Last week, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh published a paper in Nature Human Today describing their most recent innovation in the artificial intelligence space. The team created an AI that could successfully identify participants experiencing suicidal thoughts.
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