Smart Cameras Detect Crime, Erode Privacy

MattSparkes writes "Smart surveillance systems could identify crimes as they take place, if a computer vision system developed at the University of Texas goes into production. The system is capable of classifying behaviour as friendly or violent. In the past there have been attempts to spot unusual behaviour, but this required subsequent user classification. These new systems may keep us more secure, but is it worth sacrificing our privacy for? And will we see false positives, where police cars screech to a halt beside hugging couples?"

Comments

Just because someone pushes or punches...

[garcia]

A computer vision system developed in the University of Texas in Austin, US, can already tell the difference between friendly behaviour, such as shaking hands, and aggressive actions like punching or pushing.

Just because someone pushes or punches someone else, doesn't mean it isn't friendly. Would be flicking off a friend be considered an aggressive act?

Let's leave this sort of shit to human judgment instead of relying on cameras all the time. We really don't need to be going down this road.

Re:Just because someone pushes or punches...

[richg74]

From TFA:
On average, the system was 80% accurate at identifying these activities correctly.

That figure is for "staged interactions", which are likely to be more exaggerated / less ambiguous than "real life", unless they were performed by accomplished actors (meaning someone that could convincingly portray the actions to a human audience). They are also likely to have less irrelevant random "background noise".

Just because someone pushes or punches someone else, doesn't mean it isn't friendly.

Indeed. As it happens, I recently met a friend from college, who I haven't seen for a few years, in front of a cafe in town. He ran up and gave me a huge bear hug. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the system thought he was mugging me.

Some Dostoevsky

[Mateo_LeFou]

"He's written a good thing in that manuscript," Verhovensky went on. "He suggests a system of spying. Every member of the society spies on the others, and it's his duty to inform against them. Every one belongs to all and all to every one. All are slaves and equal in their slavery. In extreme cases he advocates slander and murder, but the great thing about it is equality. To begin with, the level of education, science, and talents is lowered. A high level of education and science is only possible for great intellects, and they are not wanted. The great intellects have always seized the power and been despots. Great intellects cannot help being despots and they've always done more harm than good. They will be banished or put to death. Cicero will have his tongue cut out, Copernicus will have his eyes put out, Shakespeare will be stoned--that's Shigalovism. Slaves are bound to be equal. There has never been either freedom or equality without despotism, but in the herd there is bound to be equality, and that's Shigalovism! Ha ha ha! Do you think it strange?

http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/d/dostoyevsky /d72p/chapter13.html