One of the most progressive cities in the world – Dubai, has recently launched new software that is predicting crimes before they even happen. This AI technology is based on analysing patterns from police databases and attempts to spot when and where an event is likely to occur next, reports Dailymail.
In fact, machine learning techniques are already being used in some higher levels of policing, financial crimes – fraud detection, scanning social media for any possible appearance of terroristic or violent organisations, and so on.
The report published by Stanford University “Artificial Intelligence and Life in 2030” states that the impact of AI on crime prediction and prevention will become significantly larger in the coming years. Current researchers are focused on figuring out the way to control crowds and monitor activity on large gatherings, which can get extremely dangerous, as recent events in the world are proving.
The technology launched in Dubai has been stated to provide a highly accurate analytics and is so far also relying on the knowledge and skills of experienced policemen. Since the technologies of machine learning make computers learn by themselves, the forecast for the nearest future is for systems to become more and more independent and for offices to rely on its estimations. Not to mention Facial Recognition technology, with which a system could easily spot a criminal and report to stay alert.
Picture – The Huffington Post
The major drawback is that this evolution is likely to put millions of jobs at risk, however, it might also create new kinds of jobs too. The AI is definitely a beneficial development for the society when accepted and used accordingly, and will definitely transform many industries, including crime prevention, in the coming decades.
That’s really interesting! I’m a real fan of Artificial Intelligence, even though it’s a bit scary too. However, that’s really fascinating how we can create systems that actually learn! I’m looking forward to seeing the development of AI throughout my life.
However, I have to admit, it’s makes me fell uncomfortable when I thing about the level of control connected to AI. Preventing crime is a good idea, of course. But does it really solve the problem? I think the problem is still inside people, in their minds and if we don’t address that and don’t help these criminalists, they might simply come up with other forms of crime.
Another issue are ethics. That’s also a trendy topic when it comes to self-driving cars. If the system decides it’s better to kill you and save 10 other people, is it really FAIR? Ethical? To me, my life is worth much more then lives of 10 other people. And hey, what if the AI system decides to save 10 people but it kills the only person in the world that knows how to do a specific type of a surgery that could save 10000000 lives?
IMO – AI is great for business, for example, but really shouldn’t decide about lives.