4 ms·

By using machine learning on data from wearable biosensors, researchers can predict imminent aggressive behavior in autistic children and teenagers in psychiatr

by wjb3 3y ago

By using machine learning on data from wearable biosensors, researchers can predict imminent aggressive behavior in autistic children and teenagers in psychiatric inpatient settings.

temp0826 3y ago
This is the most boring version of a Minority Report-esque future I could have imagined.
- alvarezbjm-hn 3y ago
  Rather cathastrophic. "Some experts caution that these tools can never substitute for the judgment clinicians hone through years of experience — but should instead augment it"... Good luck with that. Tools can't have responsibility. (Bad for customers, good for organizations) Elaborating: What % of autist people kills someone out of aggressive behavior? I am quite sure we don't know, because, I suspect, it is low. Compare that to the general population. The only reason they want to put tracking devices on autists is because. unlike healthy people, autists can't fight back. Once the technology is mature, you try to enforce it on (sell it to) exconvicts, immigrants and jaywalkers.
  - mistermann 3y ago
    > The only reason they want to put tracking devices on autists is because. unlike healthy people, autists can't fight back. It could also be to keep attention away from where it should be: neurotypicals. A lot like politics, journalism, marketing, Transformer Models, etc: Attention is [Almost] All You Need. And the beauty of it: it doesn't even have to be a conspiracy, it could be pure culture / emergence- perfect plausible deniability, especially if no one starts asking inconvenient questions.
- bitwize 3y ago
  More like Blade Runner, with the Voight-Kampf test and that.
WWLink 3y ago
Ehh... I can tell you reasons why that won't always work..... First off, sensitivity to stimuli. I see someone wearing a wristband/watch in one of the pictures in the article. Some autistic people are super sensitive to wearing things like watches, necklaces, bracelets, anklets, headbands, etc. Oh wait, sensor gear is almost always one of those things... The other is that as much as people talk about repetitiveness and rituals, I can tell you that sometimes there is no pattern! My brother who is most strongly on the spectrum, is older than I am... so I've known him my entire life. I have a pretty good idea what he likes, doesn't like, and what stresses him. There are still occasional days where he has a meltdown and I sit there and go through my 'notes' and can't figure it out. One time I was trying to recount this experience to his doctor and she said it sounded like I was looking for signals in a field of noise. She was right. Sometimes it's just too random to really know. I imagine it's easier if you have a willing subject who can communicate with you why they got upset after the fact. Unfortunately for my brother, "why" is a question he doesn't like answering - and when he (rarely) does, the answers are usually not very credible like "Why were you so angry?" "because you haven't taken me out shopping on Saturday yet!" (and it's Tuesday and we just went Saturday) (The funnier part is he'll often ask me "why" I do things lol :D) Anyway, back to the article. I don't like it. Inpatient psychiatric settings are already a scary sorta place. You get locked in a building you might not be familiar with, might have to wear different clothing (not usually but sometimes), be exposed to different noises and scents and temperature... and be around other people, also with other issues.. Being forced to wear sensors sounds like it'd add to the awfulness. It's also not a great environment to observe someone because they might just "shut down" from their normal behavioral patterns. AND IF THEY DON'T "SHUT DOWN" they might be encouraged to do so by getting a strong dosage of medicine. That's not fun. I get where they're coming from - psychiatrists (that take insurance, especially state medicaid plans which most patients would probably have) are usually overworked, underpaid, and it's a stressful job where everyone's hoping for an easy fix but it's not easy. Still, I appreciate the sacrifice the patients in those research projects are making, and the work the researchers are putting in. Especially for adults on the spectrum. There are vast vast amounts of resources expended on helping kids with autism but the moment you turn 18 it's basically "good luck lol"
- o11c 3y ago
crtified 3y ago
Presumably, some combination of measurable signals (e.g. heart rate, blood pressure, perspiration, certain movements, muscle tenseness, ....) could do the same thing, regardless of whether autism were present or not. Patient cooperation may be a factor - or, "those durned prisoners keep taking their sensors off". And then when we take the next logical step - surgical implants - it does indeed start to feel a tad Minority Reporty.
- gamepsys 3y ago
  Just wait until optical sensors can collect enough data to make the same predictions.
- mistermann 3y ago
  Exactly....considering the relative harm each causes, I think we'd get a lot more bang for our buck studying neurotypicals like this than autists....and presumably if it was successful, we could then uses the subsequent savings from efficiencies/harm to improve the lives of the autists.

by wjb3 3y ago

By using machine learning on data from wearable biosensors, researchers can predict imminent aggressive behavior in autistic children and teenagers in psychiatric inpatient settings.

temp0826 3y ago

This is the most boring version of a Minority Report-esque future I could have imagined.

alvarezbjm-hn 3y ago
Rather cathastrophic. "Some experts caution that these tools can never substitute for the judgment clinicians hone through years of experience — but should instead augment it"... Good luck with that. Tools can't have responsibility. (Bad for customers, good for organizations) Elaborating: What % of autist people kills someone out of aggressive behavior? I am quite sure we don't know, because, I suspect, it is low. Compare that to the general population. The only reason they want to put tracking devices on autists is because. unlike healthy people, autists can't fight back. Once the technology is mature, you try to enforce it on (sell it to) exconvicts, immigrants and jaywalkers.
- mistermann 3y ago
  > The only reason they want to put tracking devices on autists is because. unlike healthy people, autists can't fight back. It could also be to keep attention away from where it should be: neurotypicals. A lot like politics, journalism, marketing, Transformer Models, etc: Attention is [Almost] All You Need. And the beauty of it: it doesn't even have to be a conspiracy, it could be pure culture / emergence- perfect plausible deniability, especially if no one starts asking inconvenient questions.
bitwize 3y ago
More like Blade Runner, with the Voight-Kampf test and that.

WWLink 3y ago

Ehh... I can tell you reasons why that won't always work..... First off, sensitivity to stimuli. I see someone wearing a wristband/watch in one of the pictures in the article. Some autistic people are super sensitive to wearing things like watches, necklaces, bracelets, anklets, headbands, etc. Oh wait, sensor gear is almost always one of those things... The other is that as much as people talk about repetitiveness and rituals, I can tell you that sometimes there is no pattern! My brother who is most strongly on the spectrum, is older than I am... so I've known him my entire life. I have a pretty good idea what he likes, doesn't like, and what stresses him. There are still occasional days where he has a meltdown and I sit there and go through my 'notes' and can't figure it out. One time I was trying to recount this experience to his doctor and she said it sounded like I was looking for signals in a field of noise. She was right. Sometimes it's just too random to really know. I imagine it's easier if you have a willing subject who can communicate with you why they got upset after the fact. Unfortunately for my brother, "why" is a question he doesn't like answering - and when he (rarely) does, the answers are usually not very credible like "Why were you so angry?" "because you haven't taken me out shopping on Saturday yet!" (and it's Tuesday and we just went Saturday) (The funnier part is he'll often ask me "why" I do things lol :D) Anyway, back to the article. I don't like it. Inpatient psychiatric settings are already a scary sorta place. You get locked in a building you might not be familiar with, might have to wear different clothing (not usually but sometimes), be exposed to different noises and scents and temperature... and be around other people, also with other issues.. Being forced to wear sensors sounds like it'd add to the awfulness. It's also not a great environment to observe someone because they might just "shut down" from their normal behavioral patterns. AND IF THEY DON'T "SHUT DOWN" they might be encouraged to do so by getting a strong dosage of medicine. That's not fun. I get where they're coming from - psychiatrists (that take insurance, especially state medicaid plans which most patients would probably have) are usually overworked, underpaid, and it's a stressful job where everyone's hoping for an easy fix but it's not easy. Still, I appreciate the sacrifice the patients in those research projects are making, and the work the researchers are putting in. Especially for adults on the spectrum. There are vast vast amounts of resources expended on helping kids with autism but the moment you turn 18 it's basically "good luck lol"

o11c 3y ago

crtified 3y ago

Presumably, some combination of measurable signals (e.g. heart rate, blood pressure, perspiration, certain movements, muscle tenseness, ....) could do the same thing, regardless of whether autism were present or not. Patient cooperation may be a factor - or, "those durned prisoners keep taking their sensors off". And then when we take the next logical step - surgical implants - it does indeed start to feel a tad Minority Reporty.

gamepsys 3y ago
Just wait until optical sensors can collect enough data to make the same predictions.
mistermann 3y ago
Exactly....considering the relative harm each causes, I think we'd get a lot more bang for our buck studying neurotypicals like this than autists....and presumably if it was successful, we could then uses the subsequent savings from efficiencies/harm to improve the lives of the autists.