Technology Giving Suicide Prevention Another Set of Eyes
Suicide Prevention is something I've been covering for the last 10 years in the Treasure Valley. We host Live For 175 (child abuse prevention campaign) every year and child abuse is the beginning of a cycle. Unfortunately, suicide can be the end result for some people looking to end the pain.
Logic brought the epidemic to light in his new song, "1-800-273-8255." Alessia Cara and Khalid join Logic on an emotional record that calls attention to suicide. The title of his new song is the suicide prevention hotline and why a lot of people don't like to talk about suicide - Logic made it mainstream. I have major admiration for him taking on such a delicate topic and championing the discussion. That dude is a hero to a lot of his listeners and maybe that's helped Facebook move the message in the right direction. Logic's song has had almost 165 million views.
Facebook is using AI (Artificial Intelligence) to spot users with suicidal thoughts. EVERYONE sees your post and with this new technology, AI can scan your posts looking for trigger words.
- "Are you okay?"
- "Can I help?"
CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg said that AI has already helped 100's of users based upon key phrases that got flagged. Human responders will be the true heroes because catching it is one thing, but helping is a completely different deal. AI is just something that we'll always be scared of because with the good comes the bad. Twitter said, "creepy/scary/malicious use of AI will be a risk forever."
This is in the later stages of testing and still so many answers. The fact is that we need help spotting the problems before it's too late. Nothing is perfect and it shouldn't be any secret that someone is watching everything we post. You can't really believe that those satellites have always been used for business use?
Keep checking back for more on the AI solutions. I would expect this to hit CNN once it's finalized and then we'll all know who's looking at our posts. In the meantime, pay close attention to the signs. We get so caught up in our social lives, business, and the things at home get flushed to the end. Open your eyes and if you notice something contact the police. Call 911 or make sure to spread that suicide prevention hotline out to everyone you know. Depression is no joke.
For more on this story, READ HERE. The suicide prevention hotline is (800) 273-8255.