Dr Christine Aicardi and I were involved in this 3-year project (2021-2024) piloting the development of a technology automating the analysis of ‘expressed emotion’ (EE) in parental speech using the Five Minutes Speech Sample (FMSS) method, with the goal of improving the prediction of youth mental health problems.
Using applied science fiction and participatory foresight, we created two fictional futures (short stories) to help the project team and the public explore the implications of the technology were it to be developed and deployed.
Below are details of organisations we engaged with, readings of the stories, a questionnaire and talks/interviews about our involvement in the project.
[Note: you can find out more about Applied Science Fiction at: https://stephenoram.net/science-and-scifi-projects/ & https://csi.asu.edu/applied-sci-fi & https://appliedafricansf.com/home/ and published papers at: https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/camh.70045]
External organisations we engaged with:
Phase 1: Workshop with young people, 7 Dec 2021 (online, while developing the stories), McPin Foundation Young People’s Network
Phase 2:
Workshop with Lambeth Young Carers, 25 Oct 2023, at Science Gallery London, The Young Carers group at Carers’ Hub Lambeth
2 x workshops with parents from Autistica, 31 Jan 2024 and 7 Feb 2024
Workshop with a group of young people with experience of mental health problems from the NIHR Maudsley BRC’s Adolescent Mental Health Advisory Group, at the IoPPN, 14 Feb 2024, The NIHR Maudsley BRC’s Adolescent Mental Health Advisory Group
The Stories
Please listen to the two stories and then complete the questionnaire.
Standard Deviations
A Mother’s Nightmare
Please complete the brief survey below to help the researchers in their future work:
(function(t,e,s,n){var o,a,c;t.SMCX=t.SMCX||[],e.getElementById(n)||(o=e.getElementsByTagName(s),a=o[o.length-1],c=e.createElement(s),c.type=”text/javascript”,c.async=!0,c.id=n,c.src=”https://widget.surveymonkey.com/collect/website/js/tRaiETqnLgj758hTBazgdwBcfkoOODeNtK0tcxIZig8DQVsUd9lZ8CkR_2BF3Kd0pS.js”,a.parentNode.insertBefore(c,a))})(window,document,”script”,”smcx-sdk”); Create your own user feedback surveyBelow are events where we’ve spoken about the project and/or read the stories:
Thursday 23 June 2022 (18:30 to 21:00): Free event exploring through storytelling how AI could be used in the future to predict which children will develop mental health problems. Reading A Mother’s Nightmare and Standard Deviations. [Conway Hall, London]
Saturday 29 October 2022 (11am to noon): At BristolCon: “Should AI be used to predict a child’s future mental health?” In this session I briefly talked about my role, read a story and then invited the group to discuss the issues.
Wednesday 24 September 2024: “AI Ethics / KI-Ethik” session as part of a workshop for young people. In particular on applied science fiction and the Digital Psychiatry project at King’s College London. [MEEET Lab, @ DSI (Digital Society Initiative) and UB (University Library) of the University of Zurich, invite only]
Monday 27 January 2025: “AI Ethics / KI-Ethik” session as part of a workshop for young people. In particular on applied science fiction and the Digital Psychiatry project at King’s College London. [MEEET Lab, @ DSI (Digital Society Initiative) and UB (University Library) of the University of Zurich, invite only]
Tuesday 4 November 2025: “AI Ethics / KI-Ethik” sessions as part of a workshop for teachers. In particular on applied science fiction and the Digital Psychiatry project at King’s College London. [MEEET Lab, @ DSI (Digital Society Initiative) and UB (University Library) of the University of Zurich, invite only]
Wednesday 3 December 2025: reading ‘A Mother’s Nightmare’ at the symposium: Voice and Speech Analysis: Insights and Challenges for Health Research [King’s College London’s Social Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Memory Lane, London SE5 8AF]
Wednesday 21 January 2026 [6pm to 7:30pm]: “Applied science fiction: opening the future to our collective imagination” – Christine Aicardi and I reflected on the use of applied science fiction for anticipating the sociotechnical and ethical challenges of future technologies. [The Tavern Room, RSA House and Online via Zoom, 8 John Adam Street, London WC2N 6EZ – free but requires booking].