Seoul Uses AI Technology to Prevent Suicide Attempts on Han River Bridges
South Korea is notorious for having one of the highest suicide rates in the world, topping the ranking among OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) member countries: 23.5 per 100,000 people took their own lives in 2020.
Central and local governments have taken various measures to prevent suicides, and the Seoul Metropolitan Fire and Disaster Headquarters recently developed a system that uses artificial intelligence technology along the bridges over the Han River, where about 500 suicide attempts are made every year.
The AI-based technology, developed in cooperation with the Seoul Institute of Technology (SIT) since April 2020, has undergone in-depth study of the behavior patterns of people attempting suicide by jumping from bridges, such as wandering around a section of a bridge for some time, as well as other data, including records of rescue team dispatch history, surveillance camera footage, and suicide hotline calls.
When cameras detect a person showing such behavior, the system immediately sends a signal to rescue teams near the bridge so they can arrive at the scene faster and intervene or carry out rescue operations.
A representative of the disaster headquarters said: “The most important thing in rescuing people who try to take their own lives is to stop them before they end up in the water. Once that happens, the survival rate drops below 50%.”
A spokesperson for the Seoul Metropolitan Fire and Disaster Headquarters said the system helps rescue team members detect dangerous situations among hundreds of video surveillance channels.
“We monitor 572 surveillance cameras at the control center, so it is not easy for a handful of workers to catch everything. But now the AI system selects frames in which a person shows suspicious behavior and sends an alarm so rescue teams can respond as quickly as possible,” the headquarters representative said.
28 bridges span the Han River. Before the AI system, there were other suicide prevention measures on the bridges, such as safety railings equipped with laser detection sensors.
For example, on Mapo Bridge (nicknamed the “suicide bridge”), special sensors on the protective railings record how much pressure a person applies while holding them. If the pressure is higher than normal, the system sends an alarm to rescue teams. In addition, the bridge has been fitted with railings that are harder to climb over.
Cameras installed on Seogang Bridge send an alarm if they detect a human body under the bridge. Thanks to the combination of these various technologies, 96.63% of people who tried to take their lives by jumping from bridges were stopped or rescued over the past five years.
In addition to the existing suicide prevention systems, once the AI detection system is launched, the rescue rate is expected to approach 100%, officials believe.
With the new system, the rescue brigade will become an integrated control center for the bridges over the Han River for more effective oversight. Previously, four brigades — Yeido, Banpo, Gwanghwamun and Tuksom — each had their own monitoring and dispatch systems.
The AI system will undergo a trial period until the end of December 2021. “Once a bit more data has been accumulated and this system is well established, it is expected to significantly help prevent suicides,” said a city government official.
According to him, the city government is looking for a solution because the number of people taking their own lives on the Han River is rising due to the prolonged coronavirus pandemic and growing financial difficulties.
“This system is an example of cooperation between the city government and a research institute aimed at minimizing human casualties caused by suicide attempts on the bridges over the Han River. We will continue to conduct practical research on citizen safety using data analysis technologies”
It is worth noting that the project to introduce AI into city cameras to identify potential suicides was announced as early as late June 2021. However, former Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario Ann Cavoukian believes the project “infringes on citizens’ privacy.”
“There will be no privacy to speak of. People need to clearly understand that when they walk across a bridge, the system collects all information about their identity and what they are doing”
Lawyer David Fraser of North Carolina, who specializes in privacy issues, is convinced that the project is “obviously designed to reduce human casualties and save lives.” However, he also believes that “there is good reason to panic and to study the development very carefully.”
From 2015 to 2018, the Seoul government invested about $10.3 million to expand the city’s video surveillance system. Cameras were installed on ten bridges, and rescuers monitor them around the clock. In total, more than 1.15 million cameras are installed across South Korea.
