Artificial Intelligence to listen for suicidal thoughts on social media

Canada is planning a pilot project to see if Artificial Intelligence (AI) can find patterns of suicidality – i.e., suicidal thoughts or attempts, self-harm, or suicidal threats or plans – on social media before they lead to tragedy. According to a contract award notice posted by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), the $99,860 project is being handled by an Ottawa-based AI company called Advanced Symbolics Inc. (ASI). The agency says the company was the only one that could do it, given that ASI has a patented technique for creating randomized, controlled samples of social media users in any geographic region. The focus on geographic region is key: As it is, the country is reeling after a dramatic spike in suicides in Cape Breton among girls 15 years old and younger and men in their late 40s and early 50s. The idea isn't to identify specific individuals at risk of suicide.