HANGZHOU: While most Chinese were enjoying the Spring Festival, Wu Gang and his team were still busy working overtime to save lives. “Ding –” a Taobao customer service agent sent an urgent message: “A customer asked for some lethal drugs. We tried to dissuade her but in vain!” As a member of the “Guarding Life” team of Alibaba Security, Wu immediately initiated an emergency intervention procedure. While pacifying the customer, he checked her record, intercepted other orders, and called the police as soon as possible. Finally, the police tracked down the customer and successfully saved her life.
This is another success story for the “Guarding Life” team, which has intervened in over 1,000 suicide attempts since it was founded in July 2019. Wu is an engineer with Alibaba Security. His daily work includes training e-store agents to identify suicidal intentions, using AI systems to evaluate customers’ risky behaviors, and intercepting dangerous orders with the help of logistics companies and police. Unlike most of the employees at Alibaba, Wu’s job is to race against death and that is why he calls himself a “suicide interventionist.” “Our intervention consists of several steps. The first is to identify the suicidal intention of customers,” the engineer told media. “If the online customer service staff fail to dissuade them, we will intercept their orders. If they insist on placing orders, we will call the police to intervene. Up to now, we haven’t reported any false information.” Wu has a master’s degree majoring in pharmacy, and has been working in this field since he entered Alibaba. “The idea of suicide intervention came to me after some Taobao customer service agents expressed their concerns about customers buying dangerous products online. I wanted to help those people overcome difficulties.” – The Daily Mail-China Daily News exchange item
