Frequently Asked Questions

Posted on March 20th, 2020

How does sentiment analysis work?

Sentiment analysis is an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm that tries to derive the sentiment from a piece of text. The algorithm will try to find words that are deemed negative or positive. The algorithm does this based on its trained data set of previous positive or negative texts. This is how sentiment analysis works at a very high level. If you wish to find out more you can search online for many resources regarding this subject.

What languages does the AI understand?

The AI only supports English at the moment. Multiple language support might be coming in the future as need arises.

What if I have a lot of typos and nonsensical sentences?

Sentiment analysis works best with clear and well structured English sentences. Try to minimize your typos so that the AI can understand the words and feelings you are trying to express. In addition, factual or nonsensical sentences will generally receive a neutral score since they express no sentiment. For example, writing “two plus two is four” has no sentiment since it is a fact and there are no words that express emotion.

Are there any privacy implications by using the AI?

Always keep in mind that the AI is a machine and not a human being. The only privacy implications that might arise is the connection to this machine. We generally use encrypted TLS connections so that your data is securely transferred between you and our servers. No human being is reading and determining your sentiment at any point. The AI might send you alerts or messages if your sentiment score is continually negative.

Can the AI determine if I am suicidal?

No, at the moment we do not have a trained model that can detect this, however, we might look into a specific solution for this problem. Improving and keeping your mental health is part of our priorities.

How accurate is sentiment analysis?

The AI is not 100% accurate, however we expect the accuracy to be fairly high for most people (greater than 80%). The accuracy can vary depending on many factors. The main factors include the AI’s training data set and the structure of the data it is trying to analyze.

Who uses sentiment analysis?

Sentiment analysis and AI in general is being used in an increasing manner by most services and big companies these days in some shape or form. It can be working behind the scenes in employee management software to provide employee sentiment data or in the front as YouTube’s personalized search suggestions. Since AI is becoming more prevalent these days why not make it work for you to increase, track, and manage your mental health.

I updated my entry, why isn’t my sentiment score not going up?

Sentiment analysis only runs at the point when you are initially creating an entry. Editing or updating an entry will not trigger a new score.

How does weather data work?

Weather data is attached to your entry when you allow location services while adding a new entry to your diary. This process is automatic and only requires your consent. Your location data is only used for the purpose of retrieving the weather data for your current location. If you do not allow browser location services the weather information will be shown as blank.

Is there a mobile app?

Not at the moment but this feature is in the works.