AI offers a rare look inside the minds of CEOs—and can tell if they're depressed just based on how they sound on earnings calls

A man sits at his desk with his head propped on his hand. (Credit: Getty Images)

• Researchers debuted a new measure of identifying CEO depression by using AI learning models to analyze vocal features from earnings call recordings. This research has helped identify factors that may contribute to mental health challenges among executives.

CEOs might be able to give away mental health challenges just by how they talk about their companies' earnings to investors. A study published this month in the Journal of Accounting Research used artificial intelligence to analyze chief executives’ speech recordings to identify depression.