How AI And Social Media Helped Avert Suicide Bid By Two People

MUMBAI: The cybercrime wing of the Mumbai Police has saved the lives of two persons, who posted suicidal thoughts on social media, an official said on Wednesday.

The cyber police’s Twitter analysis cell examined a tweet by a Class 12 student, who posted about feeling depressed and suicidal over his studies on February 14, the official said.

A probe revealed that the person was a resident of Amaravati city, and accordingly, the police there were informed about the tweet, he said.

A team was formed to locate the student, who was subsequently tracked down and sent for counselling, he said.

Similarly, the cyber police analysed a Facebook post in which a man wrote about his suicidal thoughts on Tuesday night, the official said.

On analysing the post with technical support, the man was traced to the western suburb of Borivali here, he said.

The cyber police alerted the MHB police station about the man, who was tracked down after an overnight operation, he added.

Artificial intelligence is been used by Facebook to detect self-harm and deter suicides. The algorithm for suicide prevention scans every post and detects possible posts that engage in self-harm. A human team is flagged with warnings. Facebook alerts the local authorities in the appropriate region, depending on the urgency, who are then expected to send aid to the person in distress.