AI models show bias in predicting depression among African-Americans
A study has revealed that the use of artificial intelligence to analyze social media can detect signs of depression among white Americans, but fails to do so for their Black counterparts.
The researchers at the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) reported that the AI model employed in the study exhibited over three times lower predictive accuracy for depression when applied to Black individuals compared to its performance with white individuals.
"Race seems to have been especially neglected in work on language-based assessment of mental illness," the authors of the US study wrote in a report published in PNAS.
The study revealed that the words and phrases associated with depression, such as first-person pronouns and negative emotion words, were around three times more predictive of depression severity for white people than for Black people.
Language in posts from 868 volunteers was analyzed by researchers using an AI tool, while the participants were composed of an equal number of Black and white adults who shared similar characteristics such as age and gender.
The participants also completed a validated questionnaire used by healthcare providers to screen for depression, for the study co-authored by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
In white participants, the use of first-person singular pronouns ("I," "me," "my") was found to be linked to the severity of depression, but this correlation was absent in Black participants.
The study's results question preconceived notions regarding the connection between the utilization of specific words and depression, especially among Black participants.
Psychological experts have said that because of the psychological stress of systemic racism, more than one in ten Black Americans is facing severe depression problems, and when Black people have depression, it tends to be more severe, persistent, and difficult to treat.
According to experts, the ways Black Americans display depression and anxiety symptoms may be different from how mental health professionals are trained to spot it.
Distrust of doctors and the healthcare system is common among Black Americans and other non-white individuals in the US due to historical mistreatment and inadequate care, leading to hesitancy in seeking medical help.
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