Computer that predicts crime a week before it even happens
A MINORITY report- style computer system could help police predict crimes a week before they even happen.
The algorithm uses past reports of murders, assaults, and burglaries to forecast similar crimes with up to 90 per cent accuracy.
The technique has echoes of the 2002 film in which Tom cruise plays the head of the Precrime unit that can arrest people before offences are committed.
researchers from the University of chicago say the artificial intelligence (ai) can predict the location and rate of crime across a city, helping resources to be focused.
The algorithm used crime data from chicago over a three- year period from 2014 and attempted to predict crime levels over the following weeks. it forecast the likelihood of certain crimes occurring across the city, divided into squares around 1,000ft across, a week in advance with up to 90 per cent accuracy.
The algorithm was also trained and tested for seven other major Us cities with similar success.
senior author Professor ishanu chattopadhyay said: ‘law enforcement resources are not infinite. so you do want to use that optimally. it would be great if you could know where homicides are going to happen.’
ai in UK policing has proved controversial. a House Of lords committee has voiced concerns over its use for predictive policing, warning this could worsen discrimination.
it said that new technologies were being created in a ‘new Wild West’ without the law and public awareness keeping up with developments.
in 2020, for example, a flagship ai system designed to predict gun and knife violence was ditched after it was found to be wildly inaccurate
earlier this year, Norfolk Police scrapped an ai system designed to help assess whether burglary reports should be followed up. it followed claims the tool was being used to ‘quietly scrap’ hundreds of investigations into break-ins.
in March, the lords justice and home affairs committee said: ‘algorithms are being used to improve crime detection, aid the security categorisation of prisoners, streamline entry clearance processes at our borders and generate insights that feed into the criminal justice pipeline.’
But it said there was no scrutiny to ensure new tools were ‘safe, necessary, proportionate and effective’.
‘Created a new Wild West’