This has wrong written all over it. Suicidal thoughts will always defy machine logic. That is my belief, at least. At worst this looks like a tremendous waste of time. At best it pays some peoples’ salaries. By the way whenever I post a NY Times link it is gifted, so you don’t need to be a paid subscriber to access it.
A unique research project is tracking hundreds of people at risk for suicide, using data from smartphones and wearable biosensors to identify periods of high danger — and intervene.
Source: Can Smartphones Help Predict Suicide? – The New York Times
Predictable waste of money. Unfortunately just like all AI there’s going to be false positives. False positives will result in actual use of such apps from being used.
Authorities are so quick to pull the trigger (so to speak) when they suspect suicide. One offhand comment and you find yourself in Bellevue for 3 nights, mandatory. I came scary close to that situation a few years ago, and I know someone who actually did get locked up for 3 days just for acting like an asshole on a bridge. His actions were interpreted as suicidal by police and they gave him no choice but 72 hours at Bellevue.