suicideprevention
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School internet filter maker launches suicide risk detector
A company that makes internet filters and Chromebook management software for schools is launching a product today that detects when K12 students are at risk of suicide or self harm. GoGuardian serves about 4,000 school districts in the US, totaling about 5.3 million students, and is meant to act as "an early-warning system to help schools proactively identify at-risk students to quickly get them the assistance they need."
Canada will track suicide risk through social media with AI
The Canadian government is partnering with AI firm Advanced Symbolics to try to predict rises in regional suicide risk by monitoring social media posts. Advanced Symbolics will analyze posts from 160,000 social media accounts and will look for suicide trends. The company aims to be able to predict which areas of Canada might see an increase in suicidal behavior, which according to the contract document includes "ideation (i.e., thoughts), behaviors (i.e., suicide attempts, self-harm, suicide) and communications (i.e., suicidal threats, plans)." With that knowledge, the Canadian government could make sure more mental health resources are in the right places when needed.
Facebook taps the Trevor Project to prevent LGBTQ youth suicides
Until Facebook has AIs that can detect suicidal ideation from users' posts or the expressions of their faces on video, the social network will continue adding more suicide prevention tools. It even teamed up with a number of crisis and mental health organizations to provide support over its Messenger app. Now, the company has announced that The Trevor Project will also be on Messenger to serve as a suicide hotline for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and/or questioning/queer youth. Teens might have Snapchat and Instagram, but some surveys show they haven't abandoned Facebook altogether -- the social network's partnership with The Trevor Project could help save lives.
Facebook testing AI that helps spot suicidal users
Facebook has unveiled new tools to help prevent suicides, pointing out that they happen every 40 seconds worldwide and are the second leading cause of death for young people. While it already has self-harm prevention features, they rely on users to spot and report friends' problematic posts. Now, the company is testing AI tech that can detect comments that are "likely to include thoughts of suicide." They can then be checked by the company's Community Operations teams, opening up a new way for troubled users to get help.
Facebook makes it easier for Brits to report suicidal posts
Facebook users can share almost anything on the social network, from interesting news stories to silly GIFs, and sometimes their darkest thoughts. For several years, Facebook has offered concerned friends a way to flag posts that indicate suicidal moods or the potential for self-harm, via a clunky web form. The platform vastly improved on this last year by adding the flagging mechanism to the existing "Report Post" menu (accessible in the drop-down at the top right corner of any post). The new reporting tool debuted in the US originally and after being rolled out in Australia a few months ago, is now available to UK users.
