Did You Know In Some US Mental Health Clinics, Voice-Based Behavioural Targeting Isn't Real?

[Zwielicht]

Several years ago, I went into a mental health clinic as I needed to get updated proof of a diagnosis.

As I'm filling out their questionnaire, I noticed there was a section filled with questions pertaining to "magical thinking" as they call it.

These questions usually all ask, "Do you believe in the existence of magic?" or "Do you believe divine beings have contacted you?" Believe it or not, there are times I've received these questionnaires and noticed that specifically exempt religious experiences, but I digress.

Anyway, so on this particular questionnaire, I saw a question that stood out to me: "Do you believe your smart devices listen to what you're saying?" I was baffled, because Alexa and other devices have been out for years; voice-based behavioural targeting was already known in the industry.

I asked the clinician what they meant by this, and she outright said, "You know, do you believe that your phone listens to what you say to serve you ads tailored specifically based on what you say?" I was trying to work out if this was a trick question, but there it was in the middle of the other magical thinking questions. I just selected "no", but I was in disbelief that this was actually a question.

I went back home and found out that sure enough, other mental health offices and clinics had the same question. I even came across it again a few years later.

So, there you have it! If you believe in voice-based behavioural targeting, you believe in... magic!

 

[Steve]

Guess we should all be getting ourselves checked into the nearest psych ward lol

 

[Zwielicht]

Guess we should all be getting ourselves checked into the nearest psych ward lol

It makes you wonder how many people got put on meds because they were worried about their Alexa listening to them after they got ads for the very specific thing they said they were interested in near the device.

 

[Outlaw]

Man, countless times I've been talking nonsense with pals and I'd get an ad on YouTube TV or get shown an ad on mobile...

We know I'm f*cked, but am I f*cked?

 

[Skyrocket]

Do I get banned if I ask a $64,000 question?

 

[Zwielicht]

Do I get banned if I ask a $64,000 question?

No, go for it.

 

[t2van]

Yeah I've had that also for mental health questions.

I said yes.

And when I got pulled on it I said I've seen marketing packs that do exactly that.

TV ads, YouTube etc is all targeted based on what you talk about, frequency etc.

It didn't go much further anyway because of other reasons. But those questions are stupid as it's proven and documented things to listen to you.

 

[Zwielicht]

Yeah I've had that also for mental health questions.

I said yes.

And when I got pulled on it I said I've seen marketing packs that do exactly that.

TV ads, YouTube etc is all targeted based on what you talk about, frequency etc.

It didn't go much further anyway because of other reasons. But those questions are stupid as it's proven and documented things to listen to you.

You're bolder than I am; I just didn't want to deal with it.

But yeah, that's exactly it: this isn't something where there isn't documentation on it already. Some of these companies even mention using this technology, yet these kinds of questions pop up on these mental health questionnaires next to "Do you believe in the existence of dragons and fairies?"

 

[t2van]

You're bolder than I am; I just didn't want to deal with it.

But yeah, that's exactly it: this isn't something where there isn't documentation on it already. Some of these companies even mention using this technology, yet these kinds of questions pop up on these mental health questionnaires next to "Do you believe in the existence of dragons and fairies?"

Yeah it's common knowledge apart from in the medical world it seems...

I was just honest on the medical forms thought here for a reason just deal with it.

Although my stuff for was anger wise I had a broad mental health Q&A to start and I do remember that on it.

Was something else that was stupid also can't remember what now

 

[Zwielicht]

Yeah it's common knowledge apart from in the medical world it seems...

I was just honest on the medical forms thought here for a reason just deal with it.

Although my stuff for was anger wise I had a broad mental health Q&A to start and I do remember that on it.

Was something else that was stupid also can't remember what now

I'm honest to an extent on mental health forms these days as I just can't be bothered with... I don't what else to call it other than shenanigans. Maybe it's just the system over here, but depending on your answers and what you say, they usually steer the conversation toward that instead of the actual issue.

For instance, if I had answered "yes" to that device listening question, rather than provide me with updated proof of my diagnosis, they'd suddenly start asking loads of questions related to "magical thinking". Now that I think about it, they did that exact thing at the clinic, but with anxiety as I answered yes one of the anxiety questions. I did have anxiety to be fair.

It's even worse if they have a specialty in something as they tend to want give you a diagnosis for that specific thing they know more about. It's why I nearly got diagnosed with ADHD several times as a child; most clinics at the time specialised in childhood ADHD rather than childhood PTSD, so the slightest sign of ADHD meant they focused exclusively on that instead of my actual issue.

 

[t2van]

I'm honest to an extent on mental health forms these days as I just can't be bothered with... I don't what else to call it other than shenanigans. Maybe it's just the system over here, but depending on your answers and what you say, they usually steer the conversation toward that instead of the actual issue.

For instance, if I had answered "yes" to that device listening question, rather than provide me with updated proof of my diagnosis, they'd suddenly start asking loads of questions related to "magical thinking". Now that I think about it, they did that exact thing at the clinic, but with anxiety as I answered yes one of the anxiety questions. I did have anxiety to be fair.

It's even worse if they have a specialty in something as they tend to want give you a diagnosis for that specific thing they know more about. It's why I nearly got diagnosed with ADHD several times as a child; most clinics at the time specialised in childhood ADHD rather than childhood PTSD, so the slightest sign of ADHD meant they focused exclusively on that instead of my actual issue.

Yeah I know what you mean.

Wont go into reasons why I went but they just asked general questions then I had 10-15 questions to find if anything would trigger me anger wise.

A few did lol...

 

[Word Wizard]

This is one of the most Orwellian IRL stories I've heard. The way language can be manipulated by the powers that be is bad enough, but when it bleeds into the science and medical fields, it can be pretty scary.