Software Knows When You're Down in the Dumps

Posted 06/25/2010 at 6:05am | by Paul Lilly

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Machines are one step closer to rising up and imposing their will over mankind. Sounds far fetched, we know, but hear us out. If you're going to strike at your opponent, do so while they're feeling down and out, because that's when they'll be least likely to fight back. So what does this have to do with machines?

An Israeli development team has coded a new software program that's able to detect depression in online communities -- you know, those places where large numbers of humans gather -- by picking up on subtle clues. Telling someone flat out "I'm depressed" is far too easy, but this software doesn't need such obvious indicators.

Words like "black" when combined with terms such as "sleep deprivation" or "loneliness," for example, might indicate a depressive state. And not just single words, the program also recognizes revealing phrases and metaphors, too.

"A psychologist knows how to spot various emotional states through intuition. Here, we have a program that does this methodically through the innovative use of 'Web intelligence,'" said Yair Neuman, an associate professor in the department of education at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and leader of the interdisciplinary team that developed the software.

Putting the program to the test, Neuman and his team subjected the software, called Pedesis, to more than 350,000 English-language texts from 17,031 bloggers, all of which gave their permission, as well as 1,600 online queries addressed to mental health experts. The verdict? Pedesis was spot on 78 percent of the time, as verified by a panel of four clinical psychologists.

Dr. Sbaitso would be proud.