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SUMMARY:Mindful of AI: Language\, Technology and Mental Health - Four sess
 ions over two days (1st and 2nd October)
DTSTART:20201001T100000Z
DTEND:20201001T143000Z
UID:TALK151078@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr Marcus Tomalin
DESCRIPTION:Language-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) is having an ever 
 greater impact on how we communicate and interact. Whether overtly or cove
 rtly\, such systems are essential components in smartphones\, social media
  sites\, streaming platforms\, virtual personal assistants\, and smart spe
 akers. Long before the worldwide Covid-19 lockdowns\, these devices and se
 rvices were already affecting not only our daily routines and behaviours\,
  but also our ways of thinking\, our emotional well-being and our mental h
 ealth.Social media sites create new opportunities for peer-group pressure\
 , which can heighten feelings of anxiety\, depression and loneliness (espe
 cially in young people)\; malicious twitterbots can influence our emotiona
 l responses to important events\; and online hate speech and cyberbullying
  can cause victims to have suicidal thoughts.\n\nConsequently\, there are 
 frequent calls for stricter regulation of these technologies\, and there a
 re growing concerns about the ethical appropriateness of allowing companie
 s to inculcate addictive behaviours to increase profitability. Infinite sc
 rolls and ‘Someone is typing a comment’ indicators in messaging apps k
 eep us watching and waiting\, and we repeatedly return to check the number
  of ‘likes’ our posts have received. The underlying software has often
  been purposefully crafted to trigger biochemical responses in our brains 
 (eg the release of serotonin and/or dopamine)\, and these neurotransmitter
 s strongly influence our reward-related cognition. The powerful psychologi
 cal impact of such technologies is not always a positive one. Indeed\, it 
 sometimes seems appropriate that those who interact with these technologie
 s\, and those who inject drugs\, are all called ‘users’.\n\nHowever\, 
 while AI-based communications technologies undoubtedly have the potential 
 to harm our mental health\, they can also offer forms of psychological sup
 port. Machine Learning systems can measure the physical and mental well-be
 ing of users by evaluating their language use in social media posts\, and 
 a variety of empathetic therapy\, care\, and mental health chatbots\, apps
 \, and conversational agents are already widely available. These applicati
 ons demonstrate some of the ways in which well-designed language-based AI 
 technologies can offer significant psychological and practical support to 
 especially vulnerable social groups. Indeed\, medical professionals have s
 tarted to consider the possibility that the future of mental healthcare wi
 ll inevitably be digital\, at least in part. Yet\, despite their potential
  benefits\, developments such as these raise a number of non-trivial regul
 atory and ethical concerns.\n\nThis two-day virtual interdisciplinary work
 shop\, which will take place on 1st and 2nd October 2020\, will bring toge
 ther a diverse group of researchers from academia\, industry and governmen
 t\, with specialisms in many different disciplines\, to discuss the differ
 ent effects\, both positive and negative\, that AI-based communications te
 chnologies are currently having\, and will have\, on mental health and wel
 l-being.
LOCATION:Zoom
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