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DHS Goes Ahead With 'Pre-Crime' Detection Project
suraj.sun tips news that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has begun testing its project to predict future crimes on members of the public. The Future Attribute Screening Technology (FAST) project is "designed to track and monitor, among other inputs, body movements, voice pitch changes, prosody changes (alterations in the rhythm and intonation of speech), eye movements, body heat changes, and breathing patterns." A field test was performed at a large venue earlier this year, and documents recently obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request indicate that testing is proceeding on other members of the public as well. "It's not clear whether these people were informed that they're participating in a FAST study."
would make nazi weep.
Read radical news here
So how soon till we have a fully functional pre-crime police department where they arrest and try people before crimes are even commited?
...it should be possible to pinpoint potential "troublemakers" and neutralize them.
maybe the operators should point this technology at themselves... before using it on the public.
Call it the "Don't be a (Phillip K.) Dick" law, to outlaw precrime enforcement.
minority report!
Red ball anyone?
Who needs to see your papers? We already know you're a criminal, now look directly into the camera so we can determine just what you're guilty of...
Thank you for your forced compliance.
Sincerely,
DHS.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
So what they're doing is taking variables that are innocent and legal (changing the pitch of one's voice is not an inherently criminal act), and using it to justify increased surveillance of that individual. And naturally, everyone will be okay with this because "only criminals have anything to hide".
Everyone forgets, of course, that you don't need to be watched for very long before you break a law. It's so hopelessly complex that even lawyers, who spend several years learning about it, are unable to avoid being ensnared against a determined law enforcement effort. If they want you, they will get you. So basically, this system is selecting people to turn into criminals. There is no preventative value here... increased surveillance on anyone will eventually yield evidence that can be used for criminal prosecution.
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
Where did they find so many criminals to be able to test out these detection methods to be able to say that they work? I mean, considering that they haven't actually caught ONE terrorist yet (PS - the ones that make it onto the plane and are taken down by passengers a crew don't count). This is probably just another expensive DHS money pit. So now not only will you get cancer from going through the "super safe" scanners that have never been rated or tested for use on humans, but you might just be accused of terrorism because of your social phobia.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
I REALLY hope somebody in the higher echelons of the DHS sits down to read a copy of The Minority Report by Phillip Dick. Like the movie based upon it, the story explores the implications of enacting just what the DHS is suggesting. Granted, they're using cameras and screening tech instead of pre-cogs, but IMO they are still are promoting a powerful military force to reach a similar end game. What's happening to this country?
Anyone with outlier body problems is a suspect now.
DHS is now waging war against the disabled
Since the thread was already Godwinned in the first post, I'm going to say that the Nazis also did similar things to the mentally and physically disabled. It's just a jump from detecting and classifying people like this to eugenics.
Thanks, DHS.
Go fuck yourselves.
--
BMO
My Slashdot Moderation Predictor (Patent Pending) predicts this post will be modded down!
With just a little tweaking it will also detect incorrect meta moderation.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
The terrorists have won.
There's zero chance this will work how they think it will. From a great presentation at this year's DefCon:
Why Airport Security Can’t Be Done FAST
very simple, it'd probably go nuts on every JGO (junk grabbing official) at the airport screening center...
I hope not. Part of the usefulness of research and trials is to avoid bias by letting your subjects know what is being tested.
I and, however, surprised that nobody is screaming "Racial Profiling" when the system uses ethnicity as a tracking factor, unless it's used to simply filer out societal norms.
What I find funniest is that this is EXACTLY what every law enforcement and security guard is trained in for crowd surveillance and operations. These are the clues a human looks for in determining which people might be a problem. If I were smart, I'd file a patent for this ASAP, and then add "by a computer" to make it a novel idea.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
This sounds like the next generation of the same dubious technology that is know as the "lie detector."
Basically, if someone is nervous or in pain, they show heightened levels of distress in behavior.
And that's now probable cause.
If you predict that I won't do any crime, I will do it!
Wat now bitches?
... go nuts ...
HAH!
pun intended?
"Lame" - Galaxar
This is observation, and nothing more. They're just teaching a computer how to do what every good cop does.
Call me when they find reliable precognitives; until then, don't call it pre-crime detection.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
We need to stop funding these kinds of studies. And by that I mean we should get rid of DHS!
Just invent pre-cogs... problem solved.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Ok, I didn't RTFA because I want to whip this off before I go out the door but...
Instead of the "security theater" that passes for inspections at American airports, shouldn't we be emulating the much less intrusive Israeli model? From what I understand (I admit I'm an amateur), instead of passing people through body scanners and whatnot, the Israelis use well trained people to basically talk to people entering the "sterile" zone and WATCH THEIR REACTION. I guess it almost impossible to teach someone not to show outward signs of nervousness especially if they're going to end their life by blowing themselves up (or carrying illegal drugs I suppose). The results speak for themselves, when was the last time you've heard of an Israeli airport or airplane being blown up? Don't tell me it's from lack of fanatical enemies!
Of course, DHS' attempt to use technology instead of well trained PEOPLE could be a fatal flaw but the essential idea, of pre-screening people based on their autonomous reflexes, is not to be dismissed outright.
Now combine it with the George Clooney goat killing method. The DHS could simply step to one side and glower at the bad guys as they make their way to the terminal, telepathically forcing terrorists to simply die on the spot. I think they could demonstrate about the same success rate as the current, more invasive program we have today.
Nullius in verba
In a field test you want a test group that is capable of producing a range of results that may appear in actual use. A group of DHS agents isn't exactly a snapshot of your average group of travelers -- not enough Muslim terrorist types, far too many jackboot Nazi types.
In Congress they would be testing the only "native American criminal class" so results would be highly skewed there too.
The Future Attribute Screening Technology (FAST) project is "designed to track and monitor, among other inputs, body movements, voice pitch changes, prosody changes (alterations in the rhythm and intonation of speech), eye movements, body heat changes, and breathing patterns
It sounds like this is detecting signs of people's behavior changing as they sidestep their inhibitory mechanisms, or in basic terms that they're nervous doing something they know is wrong and the system is detecting their nervousness. Any ideas on how will this pre-screening work on sociopaths, who don't feel any remorse or commitment to societal morals or societal norms? Someone who doesn't experience the human inhibitory reflex? Someone with an anxiety disorder, or otherwise has a (non-criminal) reason to be nervous?
I have a crime predictor that boasts better than 99.9% accuracy. It always returns "not a criminal."
Seriously, in order for utterly dystopian concept to have any benefits, you'd need a false alarm rate much lower than 0.1%. Even at .01%, for anti-terrorism applications the ratio of false alarms to actual terrorists would be something like 10,000 to 1 -- assuming it had a 100% detection accuracy, which is of course preposterous.
[Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
Fast? I can't wait for the "furious" part. Will they plant weapons or contraband in the subject's home to make sure they have a high success rate?
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
... go nuts ...
HAH! pun intended?
never...
You know, I've given up on puns. So far I've made about ten puns on slashdot to see if at least one of them would cause a humorous reply, but alas no pun in ten did.
Can we use this on politicians before they are elected?
I'm have no doubt that this voodoo science will be hailed as "all' scientists agree its true, just like that of AGW.
we have Steve Jobs, Bob Hope and Johnny Cash. Now we have no jobs, no hope and no cash.
New Economic Perspectives
This is not to be taken lightly.
Combined with the fact that POTUS now has the de-facto power to KILL anybody (never mind if they are a US citizen or not), but also US citizens out in the open without any due process, any Constitutional rights (and I am not talking about entitlements - rights, as in what right a person has with respect to the government system), this is the end of all that USA used to stand for.
It's just the end. It's done.
If you don't vote for Ron Paul this time, if you don't even go out of your way to register republicans (however disgusted you may feel, but realize who is in power now), because the primary voting only is allowed to registered party members and if you don't vote for Ron Paul just based on this alone, then you absolutely deserve what is coming, and what is coming is going to be beyond anything anybody has ever seen before, because no nazis, no commies have EVER had capabilities that could match what US government has today. It's unprecedented.
You can't handle the truth.
Of course they've read it -- you don't think they're creative enough to think this up for themselves, do you?
It doesn't take bumpiness of the skull into account?
One day soon, if this form of pre-crime is put into use, a the police will gun down a person and it will be judged reasonable force, because they had reason to suspect the person was dangerous due to the "fact" that they would soon commit a crime. in these crazy days when the government takes private property for profit without a court order or due process(http://www.themoralliberal.com/2011/10/04/ij-challenges-%E2%80%9Cpolicing-for-profit%E2%80%9D-in-massachusetts/), where the government can threaten a person with a violet SWAT style raid for having a health lemon tree in their home(http://healthfreedoms.org/2011/09/15/usda-seizes-1000-personal-lemon-trees-threatens-fed-raid/), where the government contends that you don't own your property(http://libertylog.org/?p=2837), and that you have no rights to food, health, or to contract(http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/2010/05/09/fda-you-have-no-natural-right-to-food-health-or-private-contracts/), what do you expect. People are asleep. In the land of the free you don't have as many rights as you think. Of course they wouldn't try the same thing with large corporations of people with money or power. It's only the little people who get stepped on. At least a few have balls and they are in NY right now. What are you doing for the people who are actually doing something? They are fighting for your rights for your rights and freedom from a government controlled more and more by large corporations and less and less by, and for, the people.
-- Prepared at the direction of, or to be sent to Legal Counsel, in anticipation of litigation. Attorney Client Pri
I sure hope this system will take the shape of people's heads into account when determining future criminal intent.
It may look like I'm doing nothing, but I'm actively waiting for my problems to go away.
--Scott Adams
(FAST) project is "designed to track and monitor, among other inputs, body movements, voice pitch changes, prosody changes (alterations in the rhythm and intonation of speech), eye movements, body heat changes, and breathing patterns."
That sounds more like the effect a semi-attractive girl has on a slash dotter than a terrorist response.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
Not to mention the obvious way this singles out folks who glance at attractive women a little "too long" or have developmental handicaps.. how will it single out "non-standard" folks like yogis, swamis, gurus, monks, and the like? "unusual breathing pattern detected" in the sense that unusual would be consciously breathing since the norm is to unconsciously breath! Or enlightened folks who have personal reasons for establishing patterns of eye contact, etc, I can't begin to describe how fool-hearty this en-devour is... these lazy bastards want to do everything from the comfort of a remote terminal or hope an algorithm does it for them. Maybe the DHS already has a category for these folk and will simply place them in it, but the very act of categorizing has unknown effects itself! Also, algorithms and pre-cogs might not be so separate as one would naively think. See http://tgd.wippiespace.com/public_html/pdfpool/timesc.pdf and if you don't read anything else in the paper, at least check the references, and before you say it, no, I am not interested in discussing the "speculative" nature of the contents of the paper or discussing any aspect of the author of the paper, that is all, have a nice day ya'll :)
Why hasn't his got an "idiocy" tag?
You assumed that it will not remain in place indefinitely. My experience is that once a law goes into the book, it pretty much stays in the book (evident by the fact that to this day there are still some states with anti-miscegenation laws in their books, though unenforced.)
i meant nazi.
Read radical news here
Is it the sentencing of a person for a crime not yet committed, or is it the investigation into crimes not yet committed? If it's not the latter, then this isn't really precrime, more just a potentially dodgy way of investigation.
You know, there is a difference between trolling and pointing out the flaws in your reasoning. Just saying.
Are the researchers and head personnel in the DHS only asking, "Can we do this?" without asking, "Should we do this?" The DHS' techniques to "protect us from terrorists" continue to invade privacy while returning minimal results. It remind me of McCarthyism. How far are they going to go before the people that have the power to stop these plans (eg: leaders in the DHS, the President, etc) finally say "This is wrong," or the courts finally start saying, "You can't do this, it invade privacy or violates rights."?
this time there will be no minority report..
This is a brilliant tactic. It will encourage terrorists to practice meditation before attempting any criminal acts. In the process they will achieve harmony and enlightenment , which will cause them to renounce violence and embrace peace!
Would probably do the same thing if they used it in both the Senate & House of Representatives/Commons (depending on which side of the border).
With any power or technology, there will be those who abuse it. Something with this ability to invade privacy is screaming to be abused. That's all there is to it.
Rivera
Go fuck yourselves, America.
Sent from my Blackberry
But I went and ordered 24709000000 litres of concrete to fill North America. We're going to try again from scratch and see if we can do better the 2nd time.
The DHS is still dicking around with anti-terrorism techniques when our country's economy is being flushed down the toilet at a good rate. Soon, the US will be worthless and no terrorist in their right mind would have any interest in us. It would be akin to stepping on a mole hill.
"Common sense" says that you cannot predict a future criminal with any accuracy by observing them with video cameras and microphones. After all, the propensity to commit a crime is an internal attribute. And of course computer software is almost never as good as human beings at analyzing the way human beings behave, so this lowers the chance even more.
However, there actually are research studies that show this might work. I don't feel like producing links, but I read about a study where photographs of known criminals were mixed in with noncriminals, and people were asked to point out the faces of the criminals. Women were able to do this far more often than chance.
So there probably is SOMETHING there. Something that a neural network or other pattern recognition system might be able to detect. For now, it almost seems worth attempting just to find out if it is possible.
Trouble is, as others point out : if this technology even worked some of the time, the cops could use it to justify surveilling and even searching the dwellings and records of anyone who the system "flags" as a criminal. Just like the cops can justify tearing your car apart if a dog indicates you might have drugs. And with the law like it is, anyone who you search carefully is probably guilty of SOMETHING. Got a pirated movie on your hard drive? Underage porn in your browser cache (even if one thumbnail you never clicked on)? Make a mistake on your taxes? Half-smoked joint behind the toilet? Prescription drugs that a friend lent you?
I would guess that at least half of ordinary productive citizens are technically guilty of something.
Few people understand statistics - but everything the parent says is absolutely correct! To be useful, *most* of the people you identify as potential terrorists must actually turn out to *be* terrorists. Since terrorists are kind of rare, this means that you need an absolutely impossible accuracy rate.
Otherwise, most of your time will be spent interrogating people who are scared of flying, people who just broke up with their girlfriends, people whose pet just died, etc, etc.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0181689/
The funniest part about people referring to McCarthyism is that they do not seem to be aware that the people who actually did the things that are considered the abuses of "McCarthyism" were Democrats.
Do we really need the petty partisan politics here? He was a paranoid wingnut who very nearly did a lot of damage to the country. Does it really matter what side of the fence he started on if he was so far around the bend that he couldn't see sanity on a clear day?
I have asthma, so my breathing pattern is seldom 'normal'. Bingo, I'm the next suspect.
I do feel terrorized
I am less secure than before 9/11
Unfortunately it is due to the morons at DHS.
Somehow, this should extend to politicians vis-a-vis voting machines.
...and the government labels every foreign student from an Asian or Middle East country as a potential terrorist/spy just because they apply for grad school, work, or research with a professor, university, or company that does work that may or may not lead back to the DoD. When you expect to see the boogie man in every corner your eyes will start playing tricks on you and you will see things moving.
My God can beat up your God. Just kidding...don't take offense. I know there's no God.
I almost choked on lunch. Kudos to you sir.
Belief? Hope? Preference?The Existential Vortex
Make that eleven.
In related news, it has been found easier to determine from a person's actions, body language, and speech patterns that they will indulge only in perfectly legitimate fully approved activities. The new Pre-Legitmate behavior detector will eliminate these persons from the list of pre-criminals and likely pre-criminals. Everyone else will be forcibly rounded up for processing and confinement, with no more than the necessary amount of brutality and humiliation. The Pre-Crime division is apparently undeterred by the fact that more than 90% of the population must be thus interned...
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
Can we use this on politicians to tell when they are lying?
I mean, those guys are worse than the terrorists, they've destroyed way more lives in the past 5 years than 9/11 ever did (George W. Bush has killed more than 100,000 civilians around the world).
Maybe if the politicos knew that their heart rate, eye movements, and breathing patterns were being monitored all the time, maybe, just maybe they'd let their brains get ahead of their mouths, and actually consider what crap it is they are spouting.
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
I was looking forward to sleeping in a warm pool of water, and getting paid for it.
This ain't about 'security', it's about paying off the campaign contributors and getting that big fat government contract to waste yet more taxpayer money on pie-in-the-sky bullshit.
It's a made up cover story for the real project.
Those bastards have contracted to have ceiling cat watch all of us!
However, I know that the DHS can do better. They need to follow through, and just start sending everyone to prison. If everyone is already in prison, they can't possibly commit a crime. They will also get a lot of supervision from the officials to ensure they lead a good life. The laws that are on the books are already so convoluted and inconsistent that everyone alive is pretty much guilty of something. Look around you. The person sitting to your left or right could possibly be a child molester. The safety of our children is at stake. Better just send EVERYONE to jail now. If by sending everyone to jail, we can keep one child from possibly being fondled (unless they are being fondled by Law Enforcement Officials) it will be worth it. Currently 3 % of the population in the USA is currently in incarcerated or on parole. In this respect we lead the world. But I know we can do better. Thanks to technology it is now possible to keep track of everyone from the cradle to the grave. Let's turn the USA into one giant all encompassing blanket of security. Let's turn it into a prison.
Remember kids, It is best to distrust you fellow human beings because they could be a terrorist, a pedo, a thought criminal, or even (cringe...) a Southerner. If you ever come across someone who is not afraid of everything in today's world, and actually smiles, it is only because a) he is a faggot, b) wants to kill you, c) wants to spread baby lotion all over your body, and then film you making an x-rated movie with giant bunny rabbits. There are no other options. Be afraid, be very afraid. It is what our founding fathers, and is your patriotic duty.
... and my 16 years old self during the 90s thought it was all dystopian movies or books or computer games.
Well, apparently, I was wrong and I spent a decade or so watching case studies without knowing it. But wait... don't those companies/agencies are on the losing end in the end when the first (based on the work anti-)hero shows up? Why is it so hard these days to sort out fiction and reality when it comes to these "let's build a safer future"-things?
Fear is a really useful tool, especially in controlling information. Imagine if you will what fuckery could be accomplished under these circumstances, never mind the Minority Report crap. Think for a minute about who is controlling this information and the processes around it. This is in direct violation of our constitutional rights and more importantly our human rights. Do I want murderers, rapists or terrorist walking the streets? Heck no - but I am unwilling to segregate a population simply because I *think* they will do something bad. On the political side, I have to say there are no real checks and balances of the DHS and it needs to be stopped, chopped up and shut down. From a more important and ethical perspective, this is a point where technology is being used not for good, but for questionable purposes.
Here's some pre-crime for you... is the individual in Washington?
Welcome to the Police State. Here in the US, they incarcerate the highest number of citizens in the world (and recently hundreds of protestors).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_incarceration_rate
Of course Phillip Dick's story is relevant, but I'm not sure anyone in DHS has an attention span of more than "He looks like a bad guy," much less reading a novel.
I wonder if the new show 'Person of Interest' gave them some ideas, since TV shows come in easy to digest 8 minute chunks?
Not a bad show, by the way (I gloss over the technical details while watching it).
Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
Using Schrodinger's principal, couldn't this constitute entrapment?
In that study you mention, where did they get the photos of the criminals? Were they mug shots, or did they actually get the criminals family photos? Photos from before or after they'd gone to prison? Did they do a control where they asked things like "does this person look happy or unhappy?" as opposed to "does this person look like a criminal or not?"
I believe that DHS cannot continue to receive funding and continue to operate if they cannot find terrorists. If there are not any real terrorists to find and capture, they must find perceived/potential terrorists to capture. Otherwise, what are the tax payers paying for? I do not think DHS is going to determine that they are no longer needed and disband.
As the news of pre-crime detection projects are coming out, the other news about US government operations came out, showing just how good US government is at technology and this is a proof that nothing will go wrong with the pre-crime stuff, especially nothing will go wrong with it, if it's connected to some automatic killer drones, to kill you, before you commit a crime
Virus Hits Drone Fleet.
A computer virus has infected the cockpits of Americaâ(TM)s Predator and Reaper drones, logging pilotsâ(TM) every keystroke as they remotely fly missions over Afghanistan and other warzones.
The virus, first detected nearly two weeks ago by the militaryâ(TM)s Host-Based Security System, has not prevented pilots at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada from flying their missions overseas. Nor have there been any confirmed incidents of classified information being lost or sent to an outside source. But the virus has resisted multiple efforts to remove it from Creechâ(TM)s computers, network security specialists say. And the infection underscores the ongoing security risks in what has become the U.S. militaryâ(TM)s most important weapons system.
âoeWe keep wiping it off, and it keeps coming back,â says a source familiar with the network infection, one of three that told Danger Room about the virus. âoeWe think itâ(TM)s benign. But we just donâ(TM)t know.â. ........
You can't handle the truth.
Have gnu, will travel.
I know that the privacy folks have an agenda but frankly anything that can be observed is public and not private. The idea that others can not observe and compile information on people is about as silly as the girl at the beach in a micro string bikini complaining that the wrong guy is looking at her.
Now instead of just using this tech to catch the violent how about using it to summon an ambulance when cardiac distress or out of order breathing is observed. There is more than one way to save lives.
The return of the Inquisition!
We KNOW that you're going be a TERRORIST, so we are going to torture you until you confess!
Oh wait! Obamemall says that "we don't torture", we send you to Kazakhstan and THEY torture you.
No "Habeas Corpus"
No "Presumption of innocence"
No "Right against self incrimination"
In other words, No rights, AND you can be terminated (killed) because some bureaucrat decides that you (might) be a TERRORIST!
And who, in fact, are the REAL terrorists?
I killed da wabbit -Elmer Fudd
.. Politicians and other GOVcorps personnel are moved to the FEMA Detention camps in large quantities.
I would not rule out the chance to preserve a nucleus of human specimens. It would be quite easy at the bottom of some of our deeper mine shafts. .
This sounds a little like the concept for the movie "City of Ember". It is about a colony of humans sealed away under a mountain for hundreds of years until the surface became better again for human habitation. Unfortunately, the secret of the outside world was lost and as everything started to fall apart and they ran out of food... well it is is not a bad movie and worth watching it for yourself.
Obviously, the parent was describing a completely self sufficient colony where they could sustain the population indefinitely. The comment just made me think about the movie and you can call it off topic!
I love the sound of distortion in the morning -- webcommando
That's the beauty of Common Law: Everybody is simultaneously guilty and not guilty of some crime, thanks to judicial precedence.
Al-Awlaki, an American citizen, was pre-executed for a pre-crime that he might posiibly commit against somebody sometime.
Everybody is suspect until arrested and guilty after that
See for yourself
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-scientific-fundamentalist/201103/criminals-look-different-noncriminals
I think I have seen this before http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3969450265/
If this is true, the study violates ethical standards.
I know this'll get lost in the mass of comments, but I wonder when people will realize this seems to be just another implementation of the classic so-called lie detector?
It's well known that the so-called lie detector is junk science because they cannot establish any physiological connection between an emotional 'spike' and a lie. That doesn't stop the Feds from relying on polygraphs, however, even though they've failed in spectacular ways in the past and continue to do so.
FBI dude: "Yes, his heart rate is accelerated and he's walking funny and carrying a large parcel! He fits a profile! Let's bring him in!"
Guy: "I was just in an argument with my girlfriend and I'm carrying my stuff back to my own apartment. I walk funny because I've got jock itch. Anything else you really need to know?"
I mean, seriously. Can anyone give any scientifically-based, sound reasoning about how this can actually work without trampling everyone's rights?
Besides, ultimately it's not going to work on a huge number of antisocial psychotics. You know the ones I'm talking about: they wake up, go to their jobs and embezzle a few hundred million, fire 8,000 more workers, and finish R&D on a new missile technology. The ones who end up doing massive social and financial damage and get paid to do it with smiles on their faces.
"A government is a body of people usually -- notably -- ungoverned." -Shepherd Book
This system proposes to take two really hard areas of computer science, magically mesh them together:
Computer vision, and
Machine learning
Machine learning algorithms aren't even as good as people when it comes to doing something simple like
classifying galaxies. How are they going to handle more complex objects like us humans?
We don't have robots in our homes yet because computer vision is so hard. (Would you want a robot that,
when told to "Make sandwiches" reaches for your dog instead of the loaf of bread?) If we can't tell
'bread' from 'dog', how will we tell 'innocent' from 'guilty'?
Taking two inaccurate systems, putting them together and requiring them to work in real-time is a recipe
for failure. The money would be better spent on making lunch programs for public and high-school
kids. It would reduce crime more, turn out more educated people and not put innocents in jail.
John Shirley wrote in the 90s about just such systems, and how terrorists/freedom fighters* can and will game them.
Eclipse: http://www.amazon.com/Eclipse-Song-Called-Youth-Book/dp/1930235003
* Depends on your point of view, innit? (Well, if you're willing to disregard little niceties like the distinction between "combatant" and "civilian".)
The Sec Def and appointed understudies of DHS have time and time again demonstrated their Nazi heretage.
Time to clean house and rid the USA of the new Nazi hord, the DHS people and Nazi organization.
The Federak Government and allied agencies will not do the dirty.
We the people of the USA must take responcibility in our hands and kill DHS persons on sight.
Good Hunting. Kill'm All.
...Or is it the other way around.
400 comments and not one mention of "Person of Interest"? I'm suprised. Wonder if they will delete the 'Irrelevant list" too.
Excellent. A little more government control, and I can begin gaming them into acting my enemies.
I am John Hurt.
Person of Interest, anyone? :P
DHS did it's job, and now is way too large in number of employees, so there is a make work project to help insure that in 20 years from now, that these surplus employees could retire with a reasonable pension.
Leslie Satenstein Montreal Quebec Canada
that is an awesome movie. I don't care what anyone else says, I loved it.
Operation Guillotine is in effect.
I will not be adjudged on a scale of "normality" against a scale drawn from the mean of a profoundly sick society.
Operation Guillotine is in effect.
Of course.
if they can track down and listen to everything, but they cant detect/stop find the spam bot control servers?
Who profits from spam?
They could arrest them all in one day and have zero spam.
Get of yer ass DHS, do your job, virus's come in spam, they can do evil things.
Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
Ok, so the non-criminal pictures come from the "NimStim" photo catalogue of headshots of various emotional states and are selected for Caucasian males between 20 and 25 with little or no facial hairs and no scars, facial markings or tattoos. For each head, they chose the "neutral" expression. The criminal photographs came from the Missouri, Montana, Michigan, and Florida online criminal offender databases. The photos were edited to remove backgrounds and to "maintain a consistent photo quality, and remove differences in lighting, graininess, photo quality, etc."
So, basically, it was mug shots versus model shots. They did ask some participants if it was obvious that some of the pictures were mug shots. Since their theory is that people have a subconscious ability to recognise criminals by facial features, it seems odd that they believe that their subjects would be able to consciously tell that some pictures were mug shots.
In any case, I went through the pictures myself and made some observations. It seems that, although there were some false positives, I was able to determine which were criminals and which were not based on cues in the pictures very well. The method I used wasn't subconscious, however, it was a very conscious method. I looked for light glare. Turns out that the amount of light glare, especially on the forehead, is a very good indicator of whether or not someone is a criminal.
Anyway, there might be something to the study. The results about women being less likely to identify rapists as criminals suggests that there's at least something there, although that could have more to do with the attractiveness criteria they used to select images in the first place. There might be something in people's appearance that makes them more likely to be criminals, although if there is, it's probably a self-fulfilling prophecy. In any case, the study has too many problems with it to list here. Selection bias is just the start. Trouble is, even if there is something to the study, the effect isn't strong enough to be reliably used for any sort of crime detection. False positive rate would be through the roof.