Chinese University of Hong Kong researchers develop AI-powered app to diagnose depression
- CUHK team says app assesses depression through AI analysis of facial expressions, voice and language with more than 80 per cent accuracy
A research team from the Chinese University of Hong Kong has developed a mobile app to help users assess depression through AI analysis of facial expressions, voice and language, claiming an accuracy rate of more than 80 per cent.
The team said the new digital tool had proven to be effective in diagnosing depression, and hoped it could help raise public awareness of the mental disorder.
“Many people in society lack a sufficient understanding of depression or do not know how to help those with the condition,” said Professor Wing Yun-kwok, chairman of the university’s department of psychiatry, who led the research. “We have tried to use the latest technologies to make people understand what depression is.”
Wing noted that the major difficulties in the clinical assessment of depression came from a lack of awareness of the mental disorder, stigma associated with it and inaccessibility of timely medical services.
The use of digital phenotyping, which collects data to measure behaviours through smart devices, has enabled users to get mental status assessments without in-person consultations, thus encouraging more to seek professional help.
But Wing said most of these existing tools lacked scientific data.