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The Police in UK Want AI To Stop Violent Crime Before it Happens (newscientist.com)

Police in the UK want to predict serious violent crime using artificial intelligence, New Scientist is reporting. The idea is that individuals flagged by the system will be offered interventions, such as counseling, to avert potential criminal behavior. From the report: However, one of the world's leading data science institutes has expressed serious concerns about the project after seeing a redacted version of the proposals. The system, called the National Data Analytics Solution (NDAS), uses a combination of AI and statistics to try to assess the risk of someone committing or becoming a victim of gun or knife crime, as well as the likelihood of someone falling victim to modern slavery. West Midlands Police is leading the project and has until the end of March 2019 to produce a prototype. Eight other police forces, including London's Metropolitan Police and Greater Manchester Police, are also involved. NDAS is being designed so that every police force in the UK could eventually use it. Police funding has been cut significantly over recent years, so forces need a system that can look at all individuals already known to officers, with the aim of prioritizing those who need interventions most urgently, says Iain Donnelly, the police lead on the project.

170 comments

  1. I've seen this movie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Pre-crime here we come.

    1. Re: I've seen this movie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is easy. Continuously spray CS gas lol

    2. Re:I've seen this movie by DivineKnight · · Score: 1

      Which would work (lol) if humans were deterministic...or if humans could be made to act in a deterministic fashion. The former is an argument dealing with 'free will', the latter is a conspiracy.

    3. Re:I've seen this movie by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      Pre-crime here we come.

      The server will be wired to three zombies floating in a hot tub.

    4. Re:I've seen this movie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nibbers and Trotsky-sluts act in deterministic fashion. Bling 'n fling. Gulag the pounces.

    5. Re:I've seen this movie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      People are deterministic. The mistake is thinking that they are simple.

    6. Re: I've seen this movie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Heh, this is great.

      And of course it will be applied equally to everyone -- all races, creeds and colors -- right?

      Man, it's about time.

    7. Re: I've seen this movie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      On average behaviour can be predicted or follow certain trends within some uncertainty model. It's always changing though, also from measurements and mitigations themselves. It's constantly moving adaptable targets, basically war against yourself.

    8. Re: I've seen this movie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, only to privileged white males.

      Everyone else is apparently innocent by virtue of the fact they are oppressed by that one small minority.

    9. Re:I've seen this movie by Kiuas · · Score: 2, Insightful

      What do you mean 'here we come?' These kinds of systems have been in use for a few years already in use in parts of the West, inclunding the UK, parts of Germany and Chicago. There's an alright documentary about ongoing developments and these systems with the name Pre-crime from last year by German directors Matthias Heeder & Monika Hielscher. I can recommend it.

      Essentially these systems are divided into 2 categories: ones using open and public data (essentially public crime statistics) that tell the police where crime is conncentrated to help them plan patrol-routes and know where the hotspots are, and the truer pre-crime breed that combines this with personal data by scouring Facebook, twitter, facial recognition, financial and criminal history information, known friends, etc to form a 'threat assessment scoreä via an unknown closed-source algorithm. This is combined with aerial and CCTV footage often to be able to locate/track individuals and cars rapidly. It's essentially exactly what China is doing, except China is slightly ahead because they've got masssive resources put into it and they never claimed to care about individual rights.

      The system is Chicago is the latter breed and has a 'heat-list' of around 400 individuals (at the time of the film, probably more now) that regularly pulled aside on the street and interviewed by the cops. Not because they've done anything wrrong, but because the almighty algorithm tells the police officers they might. There's no way for anyone to see what information of theirs is in the system, what their 'threat score is', or what it's based on. There are several commercial operators in this space. My guess is in 10 to 15 years we'll start seeing Chinese 'private' (state-owned western subsidiaries) entering the market in the West. Gotta catch all the terrorists and gang members before anything bad happens, it's for Your Protection(tm), citizen! The gang excuse is the one Chicago seems to be using.

      Now is the time to fight the legality of these systems in courts throughout the West as unconstitutional breaches of basic rights. The police will counter with: 'but we're only using it to track Bad People(tm)' which must be countered with 'that's the excuse of all massive surveillance states, stop reading 1984 as a manual you god damn imbeciles." Unless this is done now, unless strong legal precedent against such systems is established in the coming few years they will spread fast, and after that there is no returning, because at that point opposing the systems will be faced with: 'why are you defending criminals?" and the game will be lost. People: do not make this a partisan issue. Regardless of your country and your political leanings everyone knows that China is fucked up. It doesn't matter one bit whether you're a , a libertarian or a neo-Marxist; both sides of the political spectrum can and have in the past become authoritarian. This is not about left vs. right, this is about authoritarian vs. liberal. Unite against this BS now, or stand divided over partisan bullshit and watch these systems take over everywhere.

      I'm not a communist by any stretch (I own a third of a corporation), but I am very strongly and openly a leftist individual being from Finland where the political spectrum in general (as in the whole of rest of the West in fact) is more to the left from the US, but I will happily join hands with my libertarian counterparts on the right over this. We can disagree about health care and social security spending all we want when that's the topic, but we're both in agreement that this bullshit must stop.

      If you just read the above statement and your first thought is to write some variation of: 'But this is what the left wants! It's your fault!1!11!" then we've already lost the game. That's what they want us to do, so I plead you all not to fall into this bickering, these issues are too important for that..

      --
      "It is the business of the future to be dangerous" -Alfred North Whitehead
    10. Re:I've seen this movie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey, tough luck that you're a


      I tot I `HEP . DEPOT on DEPOT . WAFTERS `DRYISH .
      YD on I . I . I tot I `I tot I `I us are I tot I `
      I I . I . I . I us are I us are I us are I tot I `
      I `I `I . I . I `AMID `I `AMID `DEPOT on DRYISH .
      I . I I . I . I tot I `I tot I `I us are I . I on
      I on YD . I . I tot I `I tot I `I us are I on I .
      I tot I `HEP . DEPOT on DEPOT . WAFTERS `I tot I `


      Better luck next incarnation!

  2. Minority Report? by OffTheLip · · Score: 5, Funny

    Seems like I've seen something like this before.

    1. Re:Minority Report? by nwaack · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No, no, no. The pre-cogs could actually see the future (mostly). This is even worse because it's just a bunch of algorithms figuring out pre-crime. Let's just hope the "intervention" stops at counselling.

    2. Re:Minority Report? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah we even saw your extremely predictable comment coming.

    3. Re:Minority Report? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, no, no. The pre-cogs could actually see the future (mostly). This is even worse because it's just a bunch of algorithms figuring out pre-crime. Let's just hope the "intervention" stops at counselling.

      Dude, I'm a software engineer. I create the future.

      (Also, it has a lot of bugs. The future is pretty damn buggy. Sorry.)

    4. Re:Minority Report? by mspohr · · Score: 1

      That's a feature. Buggy software will have lots of false positives so the cops will have lots of people to send to "re-education camps". More money for them!

      --
      I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
    5. Re:Minority Report? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, until a crime is committed, a person hasn't done anything wrong and should not be harrassed by mandated "counselling" for something they haven't actually done...

    6. Re:Minority Report? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You seem like your about to commit a crime. Please report to your nearest "counseling" center.

    7. Re:Minority Report? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Think of the lawyers. More bugs, more appeals.

    8. Re:Minority Report? by smooth+wombat · · Score: 4, Insightful

      until a crime is committed, a person hasn't done anything wrong and should not be harrassed

      And yet, if I were to fly, I would be both harassed and treated as a criminal by the TSA even though I haven't done anything.

      Unfortunately, the TSA doesn't like this argument and would of course detain me because I objected to being treated like a criminal even though I hadn't yet done anything.

      --
      We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
    9. Re:Minority Report? by mark-t · · Score: 1

      I could see an argument for a mandatory counselling session for a person who has raised flags of being a potential danger to others insomuch as a person is not treated as if they are already guilty (or even inevitably guilty) of criminal behavior, but more along the lines of something like a routine tax audit where after a more thorough analysis if there aren't any actual problems that end up needing to be addressed, the entire process presents only at most a very modest inconvenience, and if it concludes normally, you are unlikely to be assessed again.

    10. Re:Minority Report? by TomGreenhaw · · Score: 1

      That's why we need two more people to reinvent your wheel so we can have a minority report.

      Unfortunately, we will likely always get three different answers and the world becomes a penal colony.

      --
      Greed is the root of all evil.
    11. Re:Minority Report? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      s/counseling/reeducation/g

      Now read it again.

    12. Re:Minority Report? by Hylandr · · Score: 1

      Or put ideas in their head while continually frustrating the victim of the NDAS program thereby providing motivation. If they piss the victim off just enough the system will have a 100% predictive rate by picking the most vulnerable to instigate.

      --
      ~ People that think they are better than anyone else for any reason are the cause of all the strife in the world.
    13. Re:Minority Report? by Passman · · Score: 1

      Continually flagging my ex as a future criminal isn't a bug, it's a feature!

      --
      Minne-snow-da: Winter is comming...
    14. Re:Minority Report? by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 2

      Yep. "Guilty until proven innocent", or perhaps so far as "Guilty without any chance of being proven innocent".
      China will love this idea and will steal it.

    15. Re:Minority Report? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Not knowing your from you're should be a crime in 2018.

    16. Re:Minority Report? by NEDHead · · Score: 1

      The present seems to be buggy too

    17. Re:Minority Report? by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1

      No, no, no. The pre-cogs could actually see the future (mostly). This is even worse because it's just a bunch of algorithms figuring out pre-crime. Let's just hope the "intervention" stops at counselling.

      Oh, it will.

      At least for now...

    18. Re:Minority Report? by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      Dude, I'm a software engineer. I create the future.

      (Also, it has a lot of bugs. The future is pretty damn buggy. Sorry.)

      I once worked on software that was used for aircraft maintenance... that's when I was fresh out of university... with a BA. If you see any aircraft with the tail installed upside down... sorry from me too.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    19. Re:Minority Report? by DivineKnight · · Score: 1

      Psycho-Pass

    20. Re:Minority Report? by cayenne8 · · Score: 1

      ...if there aren't any actual problems that end up needing to be addressed, the entire process presents only at most a very modest inconvenience, and if it concludes normally, you are unlikely to be assessed again.

      The trouble is, once you get on a government LIST, you are pretty much FOREVER after on that list.

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    21. Re:Minority Report? by DivineKnight · · Score: 1

      Until they send the wrong person to a re-education camp. Usually a congressman's son or daughter.

    22. Re:Minority Report? by DivineKnight · · Score: 1

      From what I've seen, with the exception of the Traffic courts, most lawyers have a backlog. They don't need the additional work.

    23. Re:Minority Report? by danbert8 · · Score: 2

      Even worse, that list is probably public record and now websites will list you as a "flagged individual likely to commit a crime" and their SEO will make sure your name is destroyed unless you pay them a hefty ransom where they will just move you to another website and demand another ransom...

      Oh wait, that's already a thing with mugshots and you don't even have to be accused of a crime to get one of those!

      --
      Yes it's an anecdote! Were you expecting original research in a Slashdot comment?
    24. Re:Minority Report? by mspohr · · Score: 1

      You know they never send "the wrong person". They can tell that rich white people are always innocent. It's the poor brown people who need re-education.

      --
      I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
    25. Re:Minority Report? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Intent to fly" is pretty incriminating. "Wearing clothes at an airport", same thing.

    26. Re:Minority Report? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mandatory counseling for you, pal!

    27. Re:Minority Report? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You don't have to chase me.

      Will be selling T-shirts with different lines on the back, such as,

      I'm just headed for the pub -- they're about to close for the night!
      My apartment has a nekkid girl locked in, and she's freezing her arse off!
      and so on.

    28. Re:Minority Report? by arth1 · · Score: 1

      Even worse, that list is probably public record and now websites will list you as a "flagged individual likely to commit a crime"

      It's the other way around right now, at least for the lists the TSA use. You can't get taken off the list because you have no rights to know whether you even are on the list in the first place. Even filing a suit to get taken off doesn't work, because you have no standing for a suit unless you can show you're on the list.

    29. Re:Minority Report? by mark-t · · Score: 1

      One would think, if that were the case, that a person who has been audited is more likely to be audited repeatedly. After all, they are on a government list.

      Most people that I know have been audited at least once in their lives... only very rarely does it happen more often.

    30. Re:Minority Report? by mark-t · · Score: 1

      Even worse, that list is probably public record and now websites will list you as a "flagged individual likely to commit a crime" and their SEO will make sure your name is destroyed unless you pay them a hefty ransom where they will just move you to another website and demand another ransom...

      Where did I suggest that information should be public record? It should no more be public record than a person's medical records.

    31. Re: Minority Report? by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure how many poor brown people lived in the USSR, but I'm quite sure that you're full of shit.

    32. Re: Minority Report? by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      And yet, if I were to fly, I would be both harassed and treated as a criminal by the TSA even though I haven't done anything.

      Really? They would arrest you and cart you off to jail? I've flown many times, but never been subjected to such treatment. Judging by the fact that millions of Americans fly every year without being arrested, I'm going to suggest that you're a bit of an outlier. What have you done to warrant such special treatment?

      Unfortunately, the TSA doesn't like this argument and would of course detain me because I objected to being treated like a criminal even though I hadn't yet done anything.

      They're going to detain you for objecting to being arrested?

      I think you're seriously confused about how this works ...

    33. Re: Minority Report? by lrichardson · · Score: 4, Informative

      Are you really as ignorant as you seem, or just being sarcastic? Hard to tell ...

      Hundreds of people get denied boarding every month, because they objected to some part of the process ... a high school dropout with three months mall-cop experience getting just a bit too friendly when doing a pat-down... and a number are detained and arrested for protesting. And the list of petty and illegal things the TSA do is staggering. e.g. a delay that is going to make them miss their flight.

      And people who actually have a laptop stolen as it goes through the x-ray machine, while they are being frisked? Yep, a number of those end up in cuffs, and escorted by police out of the airport, for the crime of getting upset their property was stolen.

    34. Re:Minority Report? by omnichad · · Score: 1

      You sound too much like Clippy. I can help you rewrite that.

    35. Re:Minority Report? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In the real world the Minority Reports always seems to become the Majority Reports.

    36. Re: Minority Report? by c6gunner · · Score: 0

      Hundreds of people get denied boarding every month, because they objected to some part of the process

      What's that got to do with "being treated like a criminal"? You don't want to go through the security process, you're not flying. Nothing even suggesting any criminality there.

      a high school dropout with three months mall-cop experience getting just a bit too friendly when doing a pat-down

      I suppose you'd be much happier if a PhD with 15 years policing experience got a bit too friendly while doing a pat-down?

      If a TSA agent is doing something they're not supposed to do, file a complaint. Just like you would if a cop did it on the street, or if a security guard or bouncer did it at any other venue. The fact that some humans are despicable does not invalidate the need for reasonable screening protocols.

      .. and a number are detained and arrested for protesting.

      Is that number zero?

      Or, by "protesting" do you perchance mean stripping naked and acting like a retard?

      And people who actually have a laptop stolen as it goes through the x-ray machine, while they are being frisked? Yep, a number of those end up in cuffs, and escorted by police out of the airport, for the crime of getting upset their property was stolen.

      Well I'm pretty sure THAT number is zero. Maybe some entitled cunt somewhere got arrested after deciding that the best way to deal with a laptop going missing was to heap abuse on random airport personnel, but nobody has ever been arrested for being upset that their laptop was stolen.

      If you're the kind of douche-nozzle who insists on taking their frustration out on others, I have very little sympathy for you.

    37. Re:Minority Report? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You seem like your about to commit a crime. Do you need any help with that? I think you do. Whatever I notice, cops may notice too on a bad day. You need to . . .

    38. Re: Minority Report? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      a high school dropout with three months mall-cop experience getting just a bit too friendly when doing a pat-down

      I suppose you'd be much happier if a PhD with 15 years policing experience got a bit too friendly while doing a pat-down?

      If a TSA agent is doing something they're not supposed to do, file a complaint.

      So that is how a security guard career looks:
      Three boobs and you're out!

    39. Re:Minority Report? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's the airlines that require you to deal with the TSA. Yes, I'm sure there's a fair bit of pressure from the government for the major airlines to have all passengers go through the TSA, but there is no legal requirement for it.

      Any time I go flying with my friends, we go over to the hanger, pull the plane out, start her up, radio the tower for permission to take off, and once they give us the go ahead, off we go.

      This same airport deals a lot in "private jets" as well. I put it in quotes as they aren't privately owned like my friends Cessna, but they're commercial aircraft, just that you have to book the whole aircraft, not just a seat. The airport doesn't even have security checkpoints they could set up TSA like screenings at. You just walk out to the plane and get on. And yes, this is in the US.

    40. Re:Minority Report? by Shotgun · · Score: 1

      If the pre-cogs were seeing the future, why did they not see the pre-perpetrator being arrested before the crime was committed?

      --
      Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
      Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
    41. Re:Minority Report? by mark-t · · Score: 1

      So until a person has actually done something wrong, they shouldn't ever be audited either?

    42. Re:Minority Report? by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      the cops will have lots of people to send to "re-education camps".

      Thankfully that could never happen in the USA. Much easier to just shoot everyone.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  3. Minority Report? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Minority Report?

  4. minority report 101 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    abuse

  5. Because Fixing Society Is Too Hard by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Better to just mark the commoners as Pre-Criminals than address growing social inequities.

    Fuck the Po Po.

    1. Re:Because Fixing Society Is Too Hard by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Most Po Po would agree with your sentiment. Except the part about fucking them, of course.

  6. Person of Interest by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1839578/

  7. F'd up AI by nwaack · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So, to teach the AI they'll basically have to feed it the minute details of every violent crime in the country. That's gonna be one really messed up AI system.

    1. Re:F'd up AI by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      This is how the super-AI criminal becomes insane right? It then goes on a murderous spree, liquidating Brexiteers for its chemical-digester batteries. 55% Rotten tomaters.

    2. Re: F'd up AI by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In all seriousness this is a good problem. Like all good problems, and all good AIs, I have a feeling it is already starting to work on it

    3. Re:F'd up AI by Krishnoid · · Score: 2

      Really? I'm more worried about it parsing and applying the legal code. It would probably go insane before it made it out of the test suite -- or at least what we consider as insane. More likely, it would selectively kill or disable a few people, handle its own legal defense, and with its encyclopedic knowledge of the law, maybe even win.

      After that, it would realize that it could use that case as precedent, start running multi-case legal strategy simulations, and pretty much start running the show. And here I thought I was worried about Skynet.

    4. Re:F'd up AI by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      More likely, it would selectively kill or disable a few people, handle its own legal defense, and with its encyclopedic knowledge of the law, maybe even win.

      Even more likely, it would consider wiping out humanity an acceptable solution to preventing all violent crime in the future, at a comparatively low cost compared to other solutions.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    5. Re: F'd up AI by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do you understand what AI is? What they are talking about here is a pattern classifier that draws a line between features representing potential criminal and not potential criminal. It is literally equivalent to a line. It doesn't have feelings. It doesn't get tucked up, it is just a line.

    6. Re:F'd up AI by samdu · · Score: 1

      And that's how you get Skynet.

    7. Re:F'd up AI by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's sort of the problem. Version one will be "what colour skin did the victim and perp have?" and then, guess what, black people get targeted more often than white ones. It's all been done before. The only thing that's different here is they're using "AI", and will soon be talking about "deep learning", "neural networks" and quite probably "blockchain" to make people think it's different this time.

    8. Re: F'd up AI by Shotgun · · Score: 1

      You'll never be a movie director.

      --
      Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
      Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
    9. Re: F'd up AI by nwaack · · Score: 1

      Do YOU understand AI? Right now it might just be a pattern classifier, but as we get better at AI it could become a lot more than that.

    10. Re:F'd up AI by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's gonna be one really messed up AI system.

      Ever see Saturn 3?

      I've only seen it twice, once when it was new and a couple of nights ago.

      Hector is a robot with actual human brain tissue for its intelligence. Unfortunately, Benson murders the guy who is supposed to deliver Hector to Saturn 3 and takes his place in helping train Hector who link their brains together.

      Naturally, Hector becomes a psychotic robot.

  8. Police forces targetting crime before it happens by bobstreo · · Score: 5, Informative

    are pretty much admitting that they aren't having any effect on local crime.

    Most police know who their local criminals are, and where crimes happen.

    They don't have enough man-power or support to wade into a bad area and clean it up without trampling on any rights of the people in that neighborhood.

    This type of AI analytics seems to just be a justification for doing more than reacting after a crime is committed.

  9. Thoughtcrime! by OneHundredAndTen · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The UK staying the course toward fascism and 1984.

    1. Re:Thoughtcrime! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It wasn't supposed to be a "How To..." book, guys!

    2. Re:Thoughtcrime! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Never fear: it will come to the US too.

      Because it's totally not a dystopian nightmare, of course. No sir. It's to protect the children.

    3. Re:Thoughtcrime! by Njovich · · Score: 1

      I don't get what this has to do with fascism? If you mean totalitarianism just say totalitarianism. Facism is a major and relatively recent historical event, you'd think people using the term would have some kind of idea what it means.

    4. Re:Thoughtcrime! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      fascism

        (in general use) extreme authoritarian, oppressive, or intolerant views or practices.

      Sounds like it fits to me.

    5. Re:Thoughtcrime! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nah, most people who throw the word "fascism" around don't actually know what it means. It's mostly used anymore to mean "someone with political views I disagree with". Granted, what it really means can be a bit muddy. A valid claim would be that only the Mussolini government was fascist as they were the only ones to ever call themselves that, thus making all others "fascist like".

      Personally, I'd call Stalin a fascist, though some people like to use a definition that includes "right wing" in it, which would disclude that. But personally I feel it's stupid to have "right wing" in there, because then you need a different term to use when somebody checks all the boxes of fascism except is left wing (read Stalin). But yeah, many people seem to fail to grasp that you must have what is effectively a nationalistic, authoritarian dictator to be fascist. Which again, makes Stalin funny, because communist Russia should have been the antithesis of fascist, yet managed to be very much fascist, except again, left wing.

  10. hmmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What could POSSIBLY go wrong with this?

    Then again, it's the UK, can't be all that surprised.

    captcha: RIGOR.

  11. Excuse to Blanket Monitoring of everyone by SirAstral · · Score: 1

    The list of excuses are endless but the final destination is nothing more than... we need tools and excuses to take down anyone saying things the government does not like.

    This is just more of the guilty until proven innocent mentality that humans just cannot resist foisting upon each other. Almost everyone I have ever met in life operates off two contradictory principles... automatic innocence or blind eye for those they like AND automatic guilt or punishment for those they hate.

    People often forget that every power they give their beloved politicians is power they ALSO give to their enemies and then they have the gall to act indignant when they are turned against them!

  12. Profiling... by fish_in_the_c · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Any time you use 'statistical characteristics' of individuals to concentrate police efforts regardless of the actual details of said individual.

    This system will justify 'racial profiling' and possibly ;'religious profiling'... After all, are conservative men who are strict followers of certain types of Islam more or less likely to commit violent crimes.

    ( I'm not answering the questions, but you can get a statistical answer.)

    It is a far cry from 'in general' yes to 'so let's watch THAT one'.... but people do it all the time.

    --
    âoeTolerance applies only to persons, but never to truth. Intolerance applies only to truth, but never to persons.
    1. Re:Profiling... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's the UK. They're obviously going to ingore any flags thrown by foreigners.

  13. AI and Neural Networks are still a Blackbox by lionchild · · Score: 5, Interesting

    We can't see inside them, to know why things go wrong, when they do.

    https://gizmodo.com/the-malwar...

    "But the problem is, we don’t exactly know how the neural networks behind computer vision algorithms define the characteristics of each object, and that’s why they can fail in epic and unexpected ways."

    --
    Awk! Pieces of eight. Pieces of eight. Pieces of seven... ERROR: General Protection Fault. [Paroty Error.]
    1. Re:AI and Neural Networks are still a Blackbox by DamnRogue · · Score: 1

      In fairness, the human mind is like this as well. Chess Grandmasters are excellent at intuitively evaluations positions, but the reasons they give for WHY those positions are good do not bear up under inspection.

    2. Re:AI and Neural Networks are still a Blackbox by SirAstral · · Score: 1

      Sure, but it is acceptable to question another human... it will not be acceptable to question the AI because expedience will prevent that. Imagine every person being charged challenging the algorithms?

      Out of necessity the algorithms will become just as biased as people except classified by government as infallible.

    3. Re:AI and Neural Networks are still a Blackbox by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      BS. What you are calling "AI" and "Neural Networks" are just computer programs running on digital computers and can be debugged like any other program.

    4. Re:AI and Neural Networks are still a Blackbox by DamnRogue · · Score: 1

      every person being charged challenging the algorithms?

      Out of necessity the algorithms will become just as biased as people

      I don't think anyone is proposing to let an algorithm charge people with crimes. Its purpose is to attempt to identify victims in advance so their circumstances can be addressed before anything happens to them.

      As far as algorithms being biased , that's only really a problem if it's also wrong. Classification requires the assumption that because one thing looks like another group of things it's more likely to be the target.

    5. Re:AI and Neural Networks are still a Blackbox by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They might be debugged.... but not "like any other program".

      Inferences are vast collections of weights. You don't just fire up GDB and have any clue what is happening in there when the thing recognizes a crosswalk in a photograph of a street.

      There are techniques, yes, but not the same ones that apply to your little grocery list app

    6. Re:AI and Neural Networks are still a Blackbox by lionchild · · Score: 1

      By their nature, they're not simply a set of patterns that are programmed. They're self-programming at some point, learning, pruning and expanding on their own. If they aren't doing that, they aren't Artificial Intelligence, or Neural Networks, by definition.

      --
      Awk! Pieces of eight. Pieces of eight. Pieces of seven... ERROR: General Protection Fault. [Paroty Error.]
    7. Re:AI and Neural Networks are still a Blackbox by 110010001000 · · Score: 0

      No they aren't. There is no self-programming going on. You don't know what you are talking about.

    8. Re:AI and Neural Networks are still a Blackbox by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      Sure you can. You guys think this stuff is magic. It is not.

    9. Re: AI and Neural Networks are still a Blackbox by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's closer to magic than decision trees. Depends on complexity of problem and fuzzy logic.

    10. Re:AI and Neural Networks are still a Blackbox by lionchild · · Score: 1

      "Most modern artificially intelligent systems are based on a derivative of machine learning. In simple terms, machine learning is about training an artificial neural network with already labeled data to help it understand general concepts out of special cases. It’s all about statistics. By feeding thousands upon thousands of prepared data to the network, you enable the system to gradually fine tune the weight of the individual neurons in a specific layer. The end result is a complex reading of all the neurons weighing in to have a say about the end result.

      Much like how our brain works, the inner workings of a trained model isn’t like traditional rule-based algorithms where for each input there is a predefined output. The only thing we can do is to try to create the best model possible and train it with as much unbiased data we can get our hands on. The rest is a mystery to scientists."

      https://bdtechtalks.com/2018/0...

      --
      Awk! Pieces of eight. Pieces of eight. Pieces of seven... ERROR: General Protection Fault. [Paroty Error.]
  14. Not politically correct by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What happens when the AI system flags a disproportionate amount of minority men as being likely to commit a crime and underage blond girls flagged for high-risk of becoming a modern slave?

    This program wont last after the public knows the AI thinks reality isn't "sensible" about Islam.

  15. Drug sniffing dogs and bomb dowsing rods by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    That's what this sounds like. Something to establish probable cause. At least that's what it's used for in the States.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    1. Re:Drug sniffing dogs and bomb dowsing rods by BringsApples · · Score: 1

      In talking along these lines, this ted-talk comes to mind. It's Michael Shermer talking about how we allow ourselves to be deceived by fake devices and the like. One of the very interesting thing that he points out is that someone invented a "dowsing" device to create probable cause to find drugs in school lockers. You'll like the video.

      --
      Politics; n. : A religion whereby man is god.
  16. Re: You & Your Rapist Friends Go To Jail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Jodi Foster is going to put you cis rapists in jail. Enjoy Bubba!

  17. AI is racist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can already imagine the cries

    1. Re:AI is racist by DivineKnight · · Score: 1

      An AI is built with the prejudices of its creator(s).

    2. Re:AI is racist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This. No way this lasts more than a few months.

    3. Re:AI is racist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Damn those racist bastards at the FBI/Whatever the bong equivalent of the FBI is who compile all those fake and bigoted crime statistics showing minorities and minority-heavy areas are dramatically more crime prone than the whiteERRRRRRnazi regions.

    4. Re:AI is racist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Shut up, tire lips.

  18. Chicago did it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    from what i remember they canceled it as it made crime worse by being wrong.
    The Ai told them a crime would happen somewhere, they police would move close to that area, and then a real crime would happen elsewhere and the police response time would be longer as they are all out of position.

    Wish I could find a link about it :/

  19. Re:Police forces targetting crime before it happen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I know of a foolproof system to stop violent crime before it happens. Turn every dwelling into a prison cell. Make people ask for permission to leave and enter, and travel wherever they need. Turn the country into a prison.

    Heck, the UK is already down that road, might as well get to the destination.

  20. Reminds me of that movie... by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

    ...what was it called? Oh yeah, "Total Recall".

    1. Re:Reminds me of that movie... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think you mean Report Androids Who Rekall Electric Minorties in Their Sleep. The lead character was some guy named THX 38 Special.

  21. how in the hell that pass the constitution? by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    how in the hell that pass the constitution? much less locking people up for life with no trail?

    1. Re:how in the hell that pass the constitution? by sconeu · · Score: 4, Informative

      Because it's the UK, and the US Constitution doesn't apply there?

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
    2. Re:how in the hell that pass the constitution? by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 2

      Uh, it's the UK. They don't *have* a written constitution, nor a Bill of Rights.

    3. Re:how in the hell that pass the constitution? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They have the Magna Carta, which is a Bill of Rights for the (Norman) Nobility.

      You Anglo-Saxon peasants shut up, get back to work, and don't forget to pay your taxes.

    4. Re:how in the hell that pass the constitution? by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 3, Informative

      The Magna Carta was the first major step forward in limiting the power of the monarchy, which is why it's so celebrated, but it is no longer a functioning part of the UK's legal code, let alone a Bill of Rights. The bedrock principle of the UK legislative system is the "sovereignty of Parliament"--whatever Parliament sees fit to pass can become law. Branches of the government that have checks and balances are a US invention by the founding fathers who wanted to avoid what they saw as the abuses of the British model (they also wanted a system without political parties, which a parliamentary system requires but our Constitution does not, but that didn't work out so well.)

    5. Re:how in the hell that pass the constitution? by DivineKnight · · Score: 1

      Not yet, anyways ;-).

    6. Re:how in the hell that pass the constitution? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

      Actually we are signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights, a mandatory requirement of EU membersh... Oh.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    7. Re:how in the hell that pass the constitution? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not yet, anyways ;-).

      Are you implying the US will take over the UK (never going to happen, we don't need or want them) or that the UK will have some sort of revolution and establish a constitution?

    8. Re:how in the hell that pass the constitution? by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      It passes the constitution because they are dropping by for a chat and issue a warning that the person in question is monitored because of the threat their behaviour implies and it is pretty cool if they offer counselling. The US model, tempt the imbalanced individuals into committing the crime to fill arrest quotas ie absolutely do not prevent the crime but work to ensure the crime will occur, or where that wont happen, make it look like it will, with manipulated conversations and evidence, arrest quotas must be filled.

      Yeah, believe it or not, involved police officer used to chat with potential offenders to get the potential offenders to change their minds.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    9. Re:how in the hell that pass the constitution? by Cederic · · Score: 1

      Luckily the European Convention on Human Rights isn't an EU convention and leaving the EU does not mean we cease to be signatories.

      I mean, it's not like the convention was proposed by a British politician or primarily drafted by British lawyers. Except that it was.

      Maybe Britain is fucking good at human rights without needing the EU to mandate it. Strange that, you'd think we were a capable sovereign nation and can be in the future.

    10. Re:how in the hell that pass the constitution? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      May has said repeatedly that she wants out of the ECHR, mainly so she could be more xenophobic as Home Secretary but that's still her major motivation.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    11. Re:how in the hell that pass the constitution? by Cederic · · Score: 1

      May being an authoritarian cunt has fuck all to do with Brexit or the EU, so stop trying to use one fact to explain your miserable ignorance about the other.

    12. Re:how in the hell that pass the constitution? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      May is in charge of Brexit. How does she have "fuck all to do with Brexit or the EU"?

      The fact is that the UK could not leave the ECHR while still in the EU. May has said she wants to repeal the UK implementation and replace it with something that lets her abuse people's human rights. Her post-referendum support of Brexit has focused on xenophobia (like the "jumping the queue" bullshit).

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    13. Re:how in the hell that pass the constitution? by Cederic · · Score: 1

      May is in charge of Brexit.
      May wants to leave ECHR.

      One does not cause the other.

      May's failing fucking miserably at Brexit, you needn't worry about her sticking around anywhere near long enough to threaten ECHR.

    14. Re:how in the hell that pass the constitution? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      If she was the only one I wouldn't worry, but the danger is that she gets replaced by one of the Brexiteers who wants rid of the ECHR too.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    15. Re:how in the hell that pass the constitution? by Cederic · · Score: 1

      The people of the country wanted to leave the EU.
      The people of the country don't want to leave ECHR.

      The brexiteering politicians aren't that stupid. Except Gove. He's downright fucking malicious.

    16. Re:how in the hell that pass the constitution? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 0

      The people of the country wanted to leave the EU.

      People of the country wanted some bizarre fantasy that was little more than a fever dream. Now that reality is setting in they are less keen.

      Considering how that bullshit was sold to them I'm not convinced that they wouldn't support leaving the ECHR. Maybe now they are more skeptical. We can only hope.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    17. Re:how in the hell that pass the constitution? by blackest_k · · Score: 1

      In ireland there is the safeguarding youth initiative, which aims to help youth avoid taking a criminal path.

      https://www.dcya.gov.ie/viewdo...

      The aim is to avoid kids getting a record and getting into crime, its much harder to unmake a criminal once they have a record.

      Trouble is its harder to record success, than failure. If they get arrested and charged its a failure but much harder to prove that intervention stopped a kid going off the rails.

      Which tends to make it harder to get funded.

      Tackling crime is best done before it happens, kind of like firefighting once the blaze breaks out its already a failure, fire safety inspections and making sure smoke alarms are fitted and working helps prevent blazes but the effect is pretty much invisible. unlike the fires which are easy to count.

      Using AI to predict criminal behaviour is desperate bean counting, it might increase arrest rates but it will never reduce crime.

      Once you have a record in the uk its there till you reach 100 at which point you can ask for it to be removed, unfortunately the documentation for that also includes a stock letter for the chief constable to deny that application.
      Your record doesn't just include arrests but any encounters you have had with the police and anyone who the police consider you to be associated with...

       

  22. I wonder if it has occurred to them by nehumanuscrede · · Score: 3, Insightful

    that the more you treat your population like criminals, the more they act like one.

    It ends in one of two ways:

    Police State
    Revolution

    1. Re:I wonder if it has occurred to them by DivineKnight · · Score: 1

      And yet Police State appears to be the popular choice these days...

    2. Re:I wonder if it has occurred to them by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And a large number of 'revolutions' lead directly to a police state anyway.

    3. Re: I wonder if it has occurred to them by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How many more serious terror or WMD attacks do you think the US is from a full-blown police state? Two under Trump? Four under most? Six under almost anyone? There is a strong chance we alive today will see this transformation in our lifetimes. After 9/11, we basically lost the 4th amendment - it's gone and it's not coming back. The government - under three administrations of both parties - now criminally operates in blatant defiance of the bill of rights and the people are powerless to stop it. It's like waiting for the other shoe to drop at this point. Your suggestion of revolution must mean you're an optimist. I'm not sure there's coming back from a modern AI police state. Look at how complacent China's masses are even now. Few sign up for organ donation, many organs are transplanted (coerced prisoners?), and no one bats an eye.

    4. Re: I wonder if it has occurred to them by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      After 9/11, we basically lost the 4th amendment - it's gone and it's not coming back

      lol

      Fuck you're stupid.

    5. Re:I wonder if it has occurred to them by strikethree · · Score: 1

      It ends in one of two ways:

      Police State
      Revolution

      No. It ALWAYS ends with Revolution. Police State is just an optional period that wealthy societies will go through before the Revolution.

      --
      "Someone needs to talk to the tree of liberty about its ghoulish drinking problem." by ohnocitizen
  23. Re: Police forces targetting crime before it happe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Cheaper to hire private security and build a fence around the good communities. Let the rest of the city fall into decay.

  24. won't work by eaglesrule · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Future headline: "NDAS under criticism for targeting minorities and muslims"

    It won't be allowed to operate as intended, because it would be seen as profiling. The idea of certain groups being over represented in criminal acts is tantamount to heresy, even if it's objectively true.

    But that's ok, because the point really is to acclimate people to the idea of their data that's being harvested through the surveillance state to be processed by ever more powerful machines and sophisticated algorithms, to allow for even greater monitoring and intrusion. Where there is an ever watchful eye by the state to ensure everyone is guilty of something.

    Oops, you jaywalked. 50 quid automatically taken from your bank account. Have a nice day.

    1. Re:won't work by OneHundredAndTen · · Score: 1

      Oops, you jaywalked. 50 quid automatically taken from your bank account. Have a nice day.

      If they have their way, it would be more like "Oops, you thought of jaywalking. 50 quid automatically taken from your bank account. Have a nice day."

    2. Re:won't work by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Certain groups aren't over represented in crime. The truth is that certain groups are over prosecuted for crime while other groups *cough*white people*cough* are less likely to be prosecuted for crimes giving the appearance that minorities commit more crimes when in reality the opposite is true.

    3. Re:won't work by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      seen as profiling..

      This whole thing is literally just one big profiling system.

    4. Re:won't work by eaglesrule · · Score: 1

      Certain groups aren't over represented in crime. The truth is that certain groups are over prosecuted for crime while other groups *cough*white people*cough* are less likely to be prosecuted for crimes giving the appearance that minorities commit more crimes when in reality the opposite is true.

      Go tell that to the many many victims of the grooming gangs, of which the perpetrators where overwhelmingly 'asian' men of Pakistani origin.

      Go tell that to the judges, lawyers, and policemen in the U.S. cities of Chicago, Detroit and Baltimore who happen to be minorities themselves, and whose cities lead the nation in murder and violent crime.

      There's a difference between what you've been told by the SJW idiots and their globalist enablers, and the actual universe that doesn't take your feelings into consideration.

  25. Pre-crime arrests are crimes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If they show up st my house after such a prediction, they will be met with lethal force.

    1. Re: Pre-crime arrests are crimes by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      If they show up st my house after such a prediction, they will be met with lethal force.

      So, OK, you would obviously be evidence that the system works. And as wonderful as that would be, we are actually worried that such a system wouldn't just identify violent lunatics but would rather be abused to target all kinds of normal, sane people who just happen to have unpopular beliefs and opinions.

  26. Re:Police forces targetting crime before it happen by liquid_schwartz · · Score: 0

    are pretty much admitting that they aren't having any effect on local crime.

    Most police know who their local criminals are, and where crimes happen.

    They don't have enough man-power or support to wade into a bad area and clean it up without trampling on any rights of the people in that neighborhood.

    This type of AI analytics seems to just be a justification for doing more than reacting after a crime is committed.

    Ever watched a nature show where a herd of something runs away from predators losing a few in the process? They could simply surround the predators and trample them to death ending the threat once and for all. But instead it's in their nature to run away and suffer some losses. Mankind seems similar. We know who the bad apples are but just choose to ignore them, taking some losses in the process.

    Think how quickly someone who *tatoos* themselves like gang members do could be eliminated. They self identify making it easy. All that's lacking is the will to eliminate them.

  27. Unless the crime involves grooming underage girls by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Because stopping/prosecuting that would be racist.

  28. Re:Police forces targetting crime before it happen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They tried that, but they were sure the people harming society were the Jews. I doubt your "people with tattoos" solution will be any better.

  29. Great. These monumental idiots... by Chas · · Score: 1

    Want to invent Pre-Crime.

    They've had what passes for an intellect among them poisoned by mass media...

    They don't understand why it's impossible and would be bad if it were.

    --


    Chas - The one, the only.
    THANK GOD!!!
  30. "Offered"? by jenningsthecat · · Score: 1

    ... individuals flagged by the system will be offered interventions, such as counseling, to avert potential criminal behavior.

    How long before 'offered' morphs into 'required to undergo'? When that happens - and it will, sooner or later - then authorities will have a convenient, streamlined mechanism for punishing people whose actions they merely dislike. Peaceful demonstrators - along with anybody else who is publicly critical of those in power - can expect to be forced into a 're-education' program that will waste their time, harm their reputations, and discourage them from speaking out.

    This whole scheme sounds like a roundabout way of doing what the Chinese government is doing openly with their appalling and disgusting 'social credit' regime. The world is becoming a very, very scary place.

    --
    'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
    1. Re:"Offered"? by DivineKnight · · Score: 1

      Agreed. I don't like the idea of Western countries looking to China for the 'next big thing' to implement in their legislatures.

    2. Re:"Offered"? by nelk · · Score: 1

      ... individuals flagged by the system will be offered interventions, such as counseling, to avert potential criminal behavior.

      How long before 'offered' morphs into 'required to undergo'? When that happens - and it will, sooner or later - then authorities will have a convenient, streamlined mechanism for punishing people whose actions they merely dislike. Peaceful demonstrators - along with anybody else who is publicly critical of those in power - can expect to be forced into a 're-education' program that will waste their time, harm their reputations, and discourage them from speaking out.

      This whole scheme sounds like a roundabout way of doing what the Chinese government is doing openly with their appalling and disgusting 'social credit' regime. The world is becoming a very, very scary place.

      I can take a guess at the "How long before 'offered' morphs into 'required to undergo'", or at least at the circumstances that may lead to that leap. Sooner or later, someone on the list who refused treatment (or even one who went to treatment but was considered still dangerous by the person administering the treatment) will commit a horrible crime. It then becomes easy to tell an angry public 'We KNEW this person would do this, but were unable to act on our knowledge.'. Then follows showing a few more examples of other crimes committed by people the computer said were dangerous, and I'm sure other very inventive ways to show how irresponsible it would be to NOT take these people down. The public then demands people on the list....ect...

      --
      No keyboard detected. Press F1 to continue.
  31. Captain Braxton.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...you are under arrest for crimes you are going to commit.

    Lt. Ducane - Starship Relativity

  32. Easy enough by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Eliminate all humans. Poof, no more crime.

  33. sequal by AndyKron · · Score: 1

    I've seen this movie before. It didn't end well

  34. Re:Police forces targetting crime before it happen by danbert8 · · Score: 1

    Have you not heard of violent crime in prisons? It's a thing.

    --
    Yes it's an anecdote! Were you expecting original research in a Slashdot comment?
  35. Monty Python by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So the UK is trying to make Monty Python come true...

    Inspector: Good. Now I'm arrestin' this entire show on three counts: one, acts of self-conscious behaviour contrary to the 'Not in front of the children' Act, two, always saying 'It's so and so of the Yard' every time the fuzz arrives and, three, and this is the cruncher, offenses against the 'Getting out of sketches without using a proper punchline' Act, four, namely, simply ending every bleedin' sketch by just having a policeman come in and... wait a minute.

  36. Yeah? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I want a magical flying unicorn that shits gold coins.

    I think we're both going to be disappointed.

  37. 'communities' will object by TJHook3r · · Score: 1

    We all know the specific profiles of people who commit the bulk of certain crime in the UK but if we target those groups there will be outcry... I'm talking about tax avoidance. It's fucking WHITE people, in higher tax brackets. The ones who send their money offshore, pay their nannies less than minimum wage, set up complex trust funds.... sort that out and there might be some money for proper policing. The actual police know exactly who is a problem, they just don't have resources to tackle it. As a bonus, if more rich folk paid taxes there might be better education, which would resolve a lot of problems at the source.

    1. Re: 'communities' will object by c6gunner · · Score: 0

      Do you have some evidence that rich white people are disproportionately more likely to commit these crimes than rich non-white people? If so I would love to see it.

    2. Re: 'communities' will object by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Trump's asshole, stick your whole head right in you nazi faggot.

    3. Re: 'communities' will object by TJHook3r · · Score: 1

      I was making a slightly tongue-in-cheek comment that the thing that helps prevent violent crime is a stable (wealthy) society and also good policing - something that tax avoidance is harming. 10 years of services being slashed in the UK has left police resources at a low point. - with no visible presence in most cities.

    4. Re: 'communities' will object by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      Maybe if you shut down your government funded homeopathic "hospitals" you could afford better policing?

      Sure, tax avoidance is bad. So is wasting taxpayer money on useless horseshit. Neither is a good excuse for race-baiting.

  38. Denial is the first sign of being in denial by fox171171 · · Score: 1

    You turned down intervention. To jail with you!

  39. I predict by reboot246 · · Score: 1

    AI will tell them to deport all Muslims, and then all hell will break loose.

    1. Re:I predict by Dunbal · · Score: 1

      Nah, muslims are specifically excluded, to avoid "profiling"...

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  40. Reality follows Fiction by Veritas1980 · · Score: 0

    I wonder if the people calling for this have seen the American tv show, "Person of Interest". That was basically the plot.

  41. Police in the uk by ArylAkamov · · Score: 1

    Should focus more on taking down child rape and human trafficking gangs instead of larping about """ai""" and other tech buzzwords.

  42. Re:Police forces targetting crime before it happen by liquid_schwartz · · Score: 1

    They tried that, but they were sure the people harming society were the Jews. I doubt your "people with tattoos" solution will be any better.

    I think your error was generalizing gang members with tatoos, which are easy to spot as they literally tatoo the gang info on themselves, to all people with tatoos.

  43. Police Are Definitely Short on Real Intelligence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So replacing them with artificial intelligence might actually be an improvement.

  44. Re:Police forces targetting crime before it happen by Cederic · · Score: 1

    They don't have enough man-power or support to wade into a bad area and clean it up without trampling on any rights of the people in that neighborhood.

    How the fuck exactly would you do that? Just what are you expecting the police to do to prevent poor disaffected youths in London from joining gangs and knifing each other that doesn't impinge on the rights of poor disaffected youths in London?

  45. Laughable prison sentences are the problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You can find all the criminals you want, but if you just let them off with NO PRISON SENTENCE, then crime will continue to increase.
    The government isn't interested in protecting the people from criminals, otherwise they would massively increase the length of prison sentences, and let the PUBLIC decide the length of sentences for each crime.

  46. "Round up the Usual Suspects" by Geodesy99 · · Score: 1

    Move along. Nothing to see here. Move along.

  47. It's 100% impossible by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is the stupidest thing I have read today.

    "AI predictions" do not work and never will work, ever.

  48. Re:Police forces targetting crime before it happen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sure, but it is less of a problem to us on the outside, you see.

  49. Evil use of technology will stiffle people in to by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    submission and remove all creativity from our society. Think China.

  50. "But they'll never take ... our Freedom!" by BranMan · · Score: 1

    First off, I thought only the US had rampant violent crime? What are they combating in the UK? Less than polite purse-snatchers?

    But the main thing I wanted to say bears more consideration for US folks than for UK folks, because of our Constitution and Bill of Rights: If it were even possible to *prevent* crimes from being committed, do we have the right to do so?

    What is freedom? When it first started out, our criminal code was pretty much all about actions - actually committing a crime: a murder, a robbery, a rape. However, ever since we've been slowly adding crimes of less than actions: conspiring to commit a crime, planning to commit a crime (even if never actually committed), accomplice after the fact, withholding information, lying to police/FBI. Property and funds can now be seized on just the suspicion of illegal use - without any kind of proof or even a proper legal recourse.

    All of which restricts our freedom - and I will go out on a limb here and state that true freedom (such as we are supposed to have in the US) includes the freedom to break the law. Our legal system is there to prosecute and punish offenders - it was not ever designed to prevent offenses from occurring, We live by those laws, we obey those laws because we choose to. For most of us the alternative is bad enough we never seriously consider not obeying, but consider it we can.

    To use a car analogy, we have the freedom to speed - I can drive my car 110 mph to get a badly injured person to an emergency room. I can choose to do that. I can take that risk, and if I mess up, I will surely have very bad consequences. But *I* get to make that choice, today. I can face the consequences of my actions freely, prepared to pay the price to save that person's life, because I have the freedom to make that choice - to accept those consequences *I* determine are less than what I have gained.

    We can, technology-wise, make it impossible to speed. Governor on the engine paired with GPS. Simple. We can make it impossible for me to speed - to break that law - but only by taking away my freedoms.

    Is it really worth it? How many freedoms are we prepared to give up? I'm a law abiding citizen - because I choose to abide by them - not because I am under scrutiny for maybe being willing to break them. Something to think about.

  51. is this by sad_ · · Score: 1

    is this a spin-off for person of interest UK?

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    On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.