Using Artificial Intelligence to change minds

Published:December 02, 2024

Author: Brendan O'Shaughnessy

To help those experiencing homelessness, Notre Dame researchers fight stigma with data

In 2020, Jack Vest was sitting on the side of the road across from a gas station in downtown South Bend, not far from where he spent each night sleeping hidden behind a fence, when a social services worker asked if he wanted a place to live.

He appreciated the choice, remembering when he was at LaSalle High School and the military showed up one day and also asked for him by name. That time, he was drafted into the US Marines and served several years in Saigon. The person asking for him this time was offering safety and privacy through a temporary housing program called Motels4Now.

Vest had spent about two decades living on the streets, and the 69-year-old veteran knew he couldn't last much longer. He said people in South Bend either treated him poorly or acted as if he was invisible.

Read the story

Posted In:

• Research