By Rachel Ocampo, Courier Staff Writer
Facebook has advanced their social networking site by expanding their artificial- intelligence (AI) tool that can look through posts that could be found alarming which may indicate that someone is suicidal.
The company partnered up Crisis Text Line, National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, and the National Eating Disorder Association to create this tool. They had a few test runs with this device earlier this year in March but h
ave officially announced that they are going to begin using it worldwide.
The AI tool identifies posts as alarming through comments regarding someone’s safety. Facebook will then receive an alert that the person needs help and will assist them. The tool will be able to
send messages to users that the AI tool sees as worrisome. The message includes options such as a connections to a helpline or someone they trust and tips to work through a difficult time. The tool is available everywhere in the world except Europe due to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This protects private information of European citizens from applications using it unless permission is given by the user.
CEO, Mark Zuckerberg stated that the tool allowed them to “connect with first responders quickly more than 100 times.” Although the company is still working on the tool to improve its quality.
Senior, Justin Fernandez, believes that the expansion of the AI tool is “a good thing that will be somewhat effective, but not completely because AI won’t be able to detect every single post. Nonetheless I think only good things can come to this tool no matter the effectiveness.”