This AI bot finds suicidal messages on China’s Weibo, helping volunteer psychologists save lives

Suicide is the second most primary cause of death among 15-29 year olds globally, according to the World Health Organisation. — SCMP

Wang Le’s bedroom is dim and silent, the curtains tightly drawn. The only sounds come from mouse clicks and a clattering keyboard. Unable to live and work like a normal person for nearly a decade due to a social phobia, the Internet has been his only connection to the outside world. It even saved his life.

Wang had to rely on his relatives to leave food at his front gate every week or two because he could not even order takeout if it meant talking to people by phone. In the spring, he contemplated suicide but hesitated. Afraid of death, but also afraid of life, he shared his despair on Weibo, a popular Twitter-like social platform in China.