A team of researchers from Northwestern University, the University of Cincinnati (UC), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard School of Medicine has created a new tool that uses artificial intelligence to quickly assess whether someone might be at risk of self-harm.
Instead of needing lots of information about a person’s psychology, this tool focuses on a simple task where participants rank pictures, along with a few basic details about them.
The researchers found that this tool was really good at predicting four things related to self-harm, getting it right about 92% of the time.
Shamal Shashi Lalvani, a student at Northwestern University and the main author of the study, explained that by looking at how people react to different things, like rewards and things they don’t like, they can understand more about why someone might be thinking about hurting themselves. This could help connect mental health with other fields like economics.
The study, which was published in the journal Nature Mental Health today, shows that just a few simple things about how someone behaves and interacts with others can give a good idea of whether they might be struggling with thoughts of self-harm.
The researchers think that this tool could be turned into an app for doctors, hospitals, or even the military to quickly figure out who might need help to stay safe.
Source: miragenews
