Teh One Who Knocks
01-04-2022, 04:50 PM
By Ciaran Daly - The Daily Star
https://i.imgur.com/HbnMUT4.jpg
Criminals in China, beware: there's a new sheriff in town, and it's not human.
Crime team researchers have reportedly created a smart artificial intelligence (AI) which is able to file criminal charges against suspects.
The 'prosecution machine' can allegedly identify crimes with 97 percent accuracy, and is designed to make life easier for legal teams trying to bust criminals.
It is built to focus on Shanghai's eight most common crimes: credit card fraud, gambling, dangerous driving, theft, fraud, intentional injury, obstructing official duties, and "picking quarrels and provoking trouble", which can be used to enforce all sorts of rules against ordinary people.
Professor Shi Yong, the project's lead scientist, said that "the system can replace prosecutors in the decision-making process to a certain extent", and that it could let prosecution teams focus on more complex tasks rather than spending weeks on paperwork.
The AI, which is ominously titled 'System 206', can take a brief written description of a criminal case and quickly identify the appropriate charges.
These are then passed onto a court for trial or sentencing, which could lead to people going to jail.
The AI was trained using data from over 17,000 criminal cases between 2015 and 2020, which enables it to identify crimes.
The researchers claim that the AI crimestopper will eventually become even more 'powerful' with upgrades to help it identify 'less common' crimes.
Prosecutors elsewhere in China are sceptical of the technology. One prosecutor told the South China Morning Post: "The accuracy of 97 percent may be high from a technological point of view but there will always be a chance of a mistake."
The use of AI in the justice system is highly controversial worldwide. In the US, an AI-powered risk assessment tool incorrectly labelled black defendants as being twice as likely to reoffend than white people.
In one instance, an innocent man, Michael Williams, was sent to prison in August 2020 on the back of weak evidence generated by an AI. Prosecutors claimed a secret algorithm had picked up evidence that Williams had shot and killed someone. A judge eventually dismissed the case, saying that there wasn't enough evidence.
This led the US government to begin regulating the use of AI in the justice system in order to prevent unequal or racist outcomes.
https://i.imgur.com/HbnMUT4.jpg
Criminals in China, beware: there's a new sheriff in town, and it's not human.
Crime team researchers have reportedly created a smart artificial intelligence (AI) which is able to file criminal charges against suspects.
The 'prosecution machine' can allegedly identify crimes with 97 percent accuracy, and is designed to make life easier for legal teams trying to bust criminals.
It is built to focus on Shanghai's eight most common crimes: credit card fraud, gambling, dangerous driving, theft, fraud, intentional injury, obstructing official duties, and "picking quarrels and provoking trouble", which can be used to enforce all sorts of rules against ordinary people.
Professor Shi Yong, the project's lead scientist, said that "the system can replace prosecutors in the decision-making process to a certain extent", and that it could let prosecution teams focus on more complex tasks rather than spending weeks on paperwork.
The AI, which is ominously titled 'System 206', can take a brief written description of a criminal case and quickly identify the appropriate charges.
These are then passed onto a court for trial or sentencing, which could lead to people going to jail.
The AI was trained using data from over 17,000 criminal cases between 2015 and 2020, which enables it to identify crimes.
The researchers claim that the AI crimestopper will eventually become even more 'powerful' with upgrades to help it identify 'less common' crimes.
Prosecutors elsewhere in China are sceptical of the technology. One prosecutor told the South China Morning Post: "The accuracy of 97 percent may be high from a technological point of view but there will always be a chance of a mistake."
The use of AI in the justice system is highly controversial worldwide. In the US, an AI-powered risk assessment tool incorrectly labelled black defendants as being twice as likely to reoffend than white people.
In one instance, an innocent man, Michael Williams, was sent to prison in August 2020 on the back of weak evidence generated by an AI. Prosecutors claimed a secret algorithm had picked up evidence that Williams had shot and killed someone. A judge eventually dismissed the case, saying that there wasn't enough evidence.
This led the US government to begin regulating the use of AI in the justice system in order to prevent unequal or racist outcomes.