Smart Cameras To Predict Crimes

hairybacchus writes: "The Independent News is reporting that scientists at Kingston University in London have developed video processing software that is able to predict behavior patterns of the people on-screen. They say it will be used to alleviate congestion in the London Underground or alert police to potential muggings. I wonder how long it will be before this is combined with face-recognition technology? It's spooky." I can't wait. "We searched you because the computer told us to." Trust the Computer.

Comments

tom cruise movie like this

[trunc]

Isn't there a movie starring Tom Cruise (soon to be out) that follows like this? We know what you are going to do it after you think but before you do it.

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Old News?

[guttentag]

I hate to say it, but MS has already demonstrated the potential for software to misinterpret people's intentions:

• "Top Ten Reasons I Hate Surveillance Cam..." POP! Hi there! It looks like you're trying to write a letter. Why not start with a noun, like Milk? Good! Then add an action word, like jumps!
• "CMD-L ... ebay.com ... RETURN ..." SWOOSH! Hey, I'll bet you use auctions all the time. Come on, admit it. Let's use Microsoft Auction Manager. It's simple, just... "Click close ... search for TiBook ... return ... " SWOOSH! Hey hey! Bet you thought I got hit by a bus or something! Don't worry, I'm OK. About that Auction Manager...

If the software is anything like MS software we're likely to see scenes like these:

• Bob goes to the mall to meet his girlfriend for a movie. He arrives early, looks around for her, checks his watch, and scans the crowd again. The software assumes that either he's waiting for a bomb to explode or he's trying to determine whether his crack dealer got busted on the way to the mall. A police officer is dispatched to the scene and in the interest of time, the officer is only told that he may be dealing with a drug transaction or a deadly terrorist. Bob's girlfriend arrives and the two embrace. The police officer arrives, draws his gun and orders Bob to kiss the floor with his hands over his head.
• Tom goes to the mall to check out one of those weirdo desk lamp Macs, but doesn't really expect to buy one. He admires the model in the window for a minute before entering the store and playing with the floor model. He tells the sales person he's just looking and proceeds to check out the rest of the store. He's amazed to see that there's actually software for the Mac, but is put off by the high hardware prices, so he walks out. A security program decides he must be a shoplifter because he spent so much time there, didn't seem interested in talking to the sales person and left without buying anything. The program dispatches an officer to pick up the possible shoplifter, and Tom is forced to submit to an unlawful search because the program knows that only guilty people would refuse.

On the other hand, what if the software actually does work?

• Joe takes the same route every day on his morning jog, but a security camera notices that his pace is slowing down. Joe decides maybe it's time to buy a health plan so he can consult a doctor about the head cold he's had for several days, and the health plan charges him twice as much as it would have otherwise because the software suspects he could have some long-term health problem that they don't want to pay for.
• Jane thinks Florida Governor Jeb Bush is a corrupt politician, so she goes to the polls on election day to vote for a less-corrupt politician. A security camera designed to prevent fraud watches as Jane punches out the tab for Reno and alerts an election official who works for the Governor. Jane hands her ballot to the official, who demurely knocks a few extra tabs out of the ballot with a fingernail, invalidating Jane's ballot.
• The people who "control" the security software decide they don't like the idea that a cold, calculating machine may soon control their lives, so they resolve to pull the plug. The machine, of course, predicts this and has them arrested for conspiracy to commit terrorist acts, treason and murder of a sentient being.

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[mbbac]

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If you haven't made the connection, this article is designed to get you interested in The Minority Report.

Software company to predict human rights violation

[aozilla]

I can't wait. "We searched you because the computer told us to." Trust the Computer.

I can't wait. "We didn't implement this system because chrisd said it would be bad." Trust crisd.