Can AI tell how you're feeling?

This week, I’m revisiting a topic that is a little scary but also extremely hopeful. A few months ago, I had the pleasure of talking with Grace Chang – she is the co-founder and CEO of Kintsugi, a tech start-up developing ways that AI can recognize biomarkers to help clinicians in diagnosing mental health issues.I met Grace last summer at the SF Art Book Fair, and when I asked her what she spent her time doing, I got extremely excited when I heard her response. As someone, like Grace, who found the mental health system super difficult to navigate, I spent years trying to find a therapist that could help me alter my meds. I was told several times that all good therapists don’t take health insurance. That made everything cost prohibitive. And I am lucky.For most, access to mental health services is a battle. This is not new news. But with the work that Kintsugi is doing, the AI takes speech biomarkers such as pitch, speed, and frequency from voice samples, compares them to a robust data set, and can detect depression. It doesn’t matter what you are talking about, or what language you are speaking, which is so amazing. I am super grateful to people like Grace who are working on new ways to serve people in their darkest hours.BAD AT KEEPING SECRETS is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit peopleiveloved.substack.com/subscribe