AI algorithm developed to detect depression from photo uploads

Researchers from Harvard and Vermont Universities have developed an algorithm to detect depression by looking at the subjects' Instagram posts. The algorithm corrected identified people who had been diagnosed with depression 70% of the time by scanning the pictures for colours and filters used. While the findings have no direct uses as of yet, they suggest new avenues for early screening and detection of depression.

How do you tell if someone’s depressed? Or if you’re depressed? Sometimes you might not know that you’re depressed, but it seems that researchers from Harvard and the University of Vermont have developed an AI that will be able to tell if someone’s depressed just by looking at their Instagram photos.

By using “color analysis, metadata components, and algorithmic face detection”, the A was able to correctly identify people who have been diagnosed with depression 70% of the time. It was also able to pick out depression based on the filters that were used. Apparently people who feel depressed tend to lean more towards bluer, grayer, and darker tones, with filters like Inkwell and Crema being used the most.

Happier individuals are said to favor brighter colors and favor Valencia and the X-Pro II filters more. However before you get all excited about Instagram being a possible source to diagnose depression, the researchers suggesting that “these findings suggest new avenues for early screening and detection of mental illness,” and that “the findings reported here should not be taken as enduring facts.”

In the meantime if you’re so inclined, you can check out the study in full here, but what do you guys think? Have you noticed that some people’s Instagram photos tend to feel a bit more depressing than others based on the filters they’ve chosen?

Filed in . Read more about AI (Artificial Intelligence), Apps, Health and Instagram.