Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by anigbrowl 1341 days ago
It's good tht you've proactively addressed privacy concerns, and your efforts here seem substantive rather than cosmetic. But I can't say I feel enthused about the video of invisible mental health diagnoses and automated interventions; this is why I have strict limits for myself on device interaction, and prefer a goofy old analog wristwatch to a digital fitness tracker. Likewise I block out some times/spaces/activities as being device free.

It seems to me that the costs of automatic this sort of cognitive/emotional effort may outweigh the potential benefits - in the aggregate, it may of course be ideal for some individuals. These are of course concerns about the undertaking rather than your particular product.

1 comments

Thanks for the feedback and for taking a read of things. I wouldn't treat this as a diagnosis (it's not) more of an indication as it's trained on PHQ9 data - which is not a full diagnostic tool. However, clinicians do use this tool to help assess and decide on appropriate interventions or actions to take.
I'll certainly watch the product with interest to see where it goes. The potential benefits could be huge. It's primarily the larger economic incentives that I worry about, which are factors beyond any one researcher or firm's control.