If
you've been thinking about killing yourself, your social media might give you
away. An initiative called the Durkheim Project will use artificial
intelligence (AI) algorithms to identify common words and phrases among those
who might be contemplating suicide.
The
program, which launched on July 2, currently targets only veterans, who have
disproportionately high suicide rates. Veterans opt into the Durkheim Project, which
installs an app on computers, iOS and Android devices. These apps keep track of
what users post and upload it to a medical database. A medical AI monitors the
data in real-time, picking out patterns that might lead to self-harm.
The
Durkheim Project app monitors content from Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, in
addition to storing information from a user's mobile device. A database at the
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth University will keep track of users'
locations and text messages, and will not share any information with third
parties. Additionally, the system will be guarded by a firewall to ward off
would-be hackers.
"The
study we've begun with our research partners will build a rich knowledge base
that eventually could enable timely interventions by mental health
professionals," said Chris Poulin, principal investigator on the project,
in a statement. "Facebook's capability
for outreach is unparalleled."
This
project has a dark side, however: While future versions of the app may notify
professionals if an individual appears to be at risk for harmful behavior, its
current version is completely noninterventional. Since veterans commit suicide
far more often than the general populace, the Durkheim Project may gain some of
its most valuable data by tracking active social media users who go on to kill
themselves.
The
research rests on solid ground. Poulin and a team of investigators ran the
program's first phase in 2011, which examined social media from veterans who
were active online. The findings were telling: more than 65 percent of users
who went on to commit suicide employed key words or phrases on a
regular basis on their social media accounts..
The
Durkheim Project may not achieve its long-term goal: The program requires users
to opt-in, and those who feel suicidal may not feel inclined to reach out for
help. Additionally, the original study only tracked correlation: There's no
indication that veterans who post negative statuses necessarily go on to kill
themselves.
Even so,
a project hoping to reduce suicide among veterans is a noble goal, and the
Durkheim Project welcomes anyone who wants to help. Through cooperation among mental
health professionals and
technology experts, a veteran's social media page could be much more than a
collection of sad statuses leading to his or her untimely death.
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