MANILA, Philippines – Facebook is launching a new artificial intelligence technology that will let the social network proactively detect patterns of suicidal thoughts and allow it to send help and first responders in a more timely manner.

Announced on Monday, November 27, the proactive detection system uses “pattern recognition to detect posts or live videos where someone might be expressing thoughts of suicide.”

With the help of AI, Facebook hopes to prioritize urgent user reports so moderators can quickly address the issue as well as provide local language resources and first-responder contact information.

Facebook also said it was adding more moderators to suicide prevention as well as training its moderators to deal with cases. The company also has 80 partners – such as Save.org, National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, and Forefront Suicide Prevention – to help provide resources in various languages.

Facebook said the AI will be eventually be rolled out worldwide, except the EU. Facebook will also continue to improve the technology to increase accuracy and avoid false positives.  – Rappler.com