FUTURES EXPO SERIES
UNSW Traumatic Stress Clinic
Harnessing AI to measure PTSD and suicide risk in military personnel
Research Project
Post-traumatic stress disorder ( PTSD ) and suicide are major problems facing the Australian Defence Force . The ADF faces major challenges in identifying personnel with these conditions . The Royal Commission will be highlighting the need for marked improvements in how these conditions are identified .
Headed by Professor Richard Bryant , the UNSW Traumatic Stress Clinic has worked with software developers to refine innovative AI-derived programs to detect PTSD using facial , acoustic , and speech data derived from brief smartphone recordings . These advances build on decades of emotion research but use the latest developments in machine learning to detect psychological conditions .
Rigorous testing has shown that beta versions of this software can detect PTSD with 83 % accuracy . Improvements to this technology have led to the potential for improved early detection of PTSD and suicide risk , thereby
opening up new opportunities to reduce suicide in the ADF .
Key capabilities
> World-leading psychological expertise in PTSD and suicide risk
> AI and machine learning to detect psychological conditions
> Experience in military and veteran mental health
Differentiators
> One of the few centres to test software to extract facial / acoustic data to detect PTSD
> Close collaboration with companies that have developed and are updating relevant software
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