肯尼索,Ga。 | Apr 11, 2025

The American Psychological Association reports nearly a fifth of all police calls involve individuals experiencing mental health crises. These situations are exacerbated by the lack of behavioral health training, causing first responders to make critical decisions in mere seconds.

To address this, Kennesaw State University 计算机科学 student Mason Pederson is contributing to a broader initiative between Cobb County public safety officials and KSU's 人机协作（CHAT）实验室, led by assistant professor Hafiz Khan.

The collaboration, launched by Khan and his team to explore AI-driven approaches to community behavioral health, provided the foundation for Pederson to lead a focused effort on mental health crisis response. Under the supervision of Khan and in collaboration 银河娱乐博彩 Ph.D. student Abm Adnan Azmee, Pederson and the team are developing cutting-edge natural language processing (NLP) integrated 银河娱乐博彩 AI to identify and deliver real-time insights to help first responders.

“The goal is not to replace human judgment, but to augment it,” said Pederson, who studies in the 计算机与软件工程学院. “通过为第一响应者提供对个人观察和口头反应的准确、数据驱动的理解，这些反应可能是潜在心理健康问题的指示性线索，人工智能工具可以帮助第一响应者做出更好的决策，提供更适当的后续反应，改善社区心理健康，甚至挽救生命。”

佩德森的人工智能工具严重依赖自然语言处理来分析警方报告。 他的人工智能模型超越了标准的语言线索，通过整合关键词证据和证据类型来检测潜在的心理健康问题，如药物滥用或心理健康危机。

他说：“例如，一个人在紧张情况下说话或反应的方式可以为他们的精神状态提供有价值的线索。” “我们的技术可以帮助急救人员发现这些迹象，并更有效地解释它们。”

The collaboration 银河娱乐博彩 the Cobb County Police Department and the Cobb County Fire Department has been instrumental in fine tuning the models. Pederson and his team have spent hours working 银河娱乐博彩 officers and co-responders to gather expert observations and nuance evidence, and to learn about the pressing challenges faced by first responders.

“我们非常尊重急救人员的工作，我们希望确保我们的工具符合他们的需求，”毕业于肯尼索山高中的佩德森说。 “通过与他们密切合作，我们已经能够创造出直观且在现场可用的解决方案。”

佩德森的努力并没有被忽视。 During the Undergraduate and High School Symposium at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers （IEEE） 2024年大数据大会, he presented his research on AI tools for behavioral health diagnosis, earning praise from experts in the field. His work was met 银河娱乐博彩 enthusiasm for its potential, and it earned him second-best paper awards for his outstanding contributions to undergraduate research.

Pederson说：“在IEEE大数据大会这个国际会议上获得认可是一个巨大的荣誉。 “看到我们所做的工作不仅是创新的，而且是有意义的，这是值得肯定的。 我们正在解决现实世界的问题，而来自该领域同行的反馈只会增强我继续前进的决心。”

CCSE Dean Sumanth Yenduri credited Pederson for his passion to help others and dedication to his craft.

“梅森在计算机和软件工程学院对创新和卓越的奉献体现了我们在堪萨斯州立大学所追求的最好的东西，”他说。 “他的工作不仅推动了这一领域的发展，还激励其他人推动技术的发展，对我们的社区和世界产生了持久的影响。”

As Pederson continues to refine his tools, he hopes to further improve the speed, accuracy, and accessibility of these technologies. Ultimately, his goal is to ensure that mental health is treated 银河娱乐博彩 the same urgency and care as physical health, particularly in crises where time and response can make all the difference.

“我才刚刚开始，”佩德森说。 “这项工作是我深深热爱的，我很高兴看到它的发展。 有很多潜力可以帮助人们，这就是我每天的动力。”

——雷纳德·丘吉尔的故事

Darnell Wilburn摄影

肯尼索州立大学是创新教学和学习的领导者，为其51,000多名学生提供本科，研究生和博士学位。 肯尼索州立大学是佐治亚大学系统的一员，拥有11个学院。 这所大学充满活力的校园文化、多样化的人口、强大的全球联系和创业精神吸引了来自全国和世界各地的学生。 肯尼索州立大学是卡内基指定的博士研究机构（R2），使其成为精英群体，只有8%的美国学院和大学拥有R1或R2地位。 For more information, visit kennesaw.edu.