Facebook Rolls Out AI To Detect Suicidal Posts Before They're Reported (techcrunch.com)

Facebook is rolling out "proactive detection" artificial intelligence technology that will scan all posts on the site for patterns of suicidal thoughts, and when necessary send mental health resources to the user at risk or their friends, or contact local first-responders. The goal is to use AI to decrease how long it takes to send help to those in need. TechCrunch reports: Facebook previously tested using AI to detect troubling posts and more prominently surface suicide reporting options to friends in the U.S. Now Facebook is will scour all types of content around the world with this AI, except in the European Union, where General Data Protection Regulation privacy laws on profiling users based on sensitive information complicate the use of this tech. Facebook also will use AI to prioritize particularly risky or urgent user reports so they're more quickly addressed by moderators, and tools to instantly surface local language resources and first-responder contact info. It's also dedicating more moderators to suicide prevention, training them to deal with the cases 24/7, and now has 80 local partners like Save.org, National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and Forefront from which to provide resources to at-risk users and their networks.

Comments

But they can't stop illegal racial housing????

[gurps_npc]

Let me get this straight, they have the tech to detect suicidal posts, but they can't stop people from illegally racially restricting housing advertisements? How hard is to require human checking of any 'people looking for housing' a X race advertisements?

Re:But they can't stop illegal racial housing????

[gurps_npc]

Your argument is that it wasn't Facebook that was breaking the law, but instead the people that were using Facebook.

It is specious. That's like saying Facebook wasn't doing anything illegal if it allowed advertisers to sell human beings as slaves.

It's would merely be immoral if they were letting people advertise nose jobs only to jews, watermelon only to african americans, or rice to asians. Such actions are vile and disgusting, and also a large part of their business model. When it comes down to it, that's basically what they do, extremely targeted advertising to groups they think would be interested based mostly on pre-judging those groups.

Facebook is going beyond just letting people do that kind of advertisement, they are assisting criminal activities, to a large extent, which is a violation of RICO. They have a legal obligation not to do it, they know that (hence their failed attempts to stop doing this), but are just doing the bare minimum to avoid a RICO charge. "Hey, we tried, but are just too damn stupid to stop this from going on. We promise to try again."

No. No promise. They make enough money and have to actually STOP assisting criminals, rather than pretending they have nothing to do with this massive, wide spread crime.