’Ello ’ello Ella
The police have unveiled their first AI officer, with hopes she’ll soon be smiling and blinking out of screens in stations all around New Zealand. Ella, the artificial intelligence cop at the centre of the police’s new digital services, was introduced at national headquarters yesterday.
Ella stands for Electronic Lifelike Assistant and is part of two new digital kiosks police have designed to reduce queues in stations and give a way to connect with the public.
Designed as a mix of 26 different people, Ella is the brainchild of project manager Erin Greally. Ella will operate initially at the Molesworth St HQ in Wellington, where users can ask for information or be connected to whoever they’re visiting.
If the three-month pilot goes well, police hope to have Ella’s friendly, computer-generated image face pop up in kiosks elsewhere.
The other kiosk in the pilot is the police connect service which can be used for commonly asked questions, to report a crime, or to link to the call centre.
During the pilot the connect kiosks will be at the Wellington, Johnsonville and Featherston stations, but Commissioner Mike Bush said they hoped to have them in stations nationwide, as well as at non-police locations. “We believe we could put these anywhere.”
They will have CCTV monitoring and other alarms built into them.
The new services were “a continuation of the modernisation of the New Zealand police force”, Bush said. “This is to complement our presence in the community.
The development of the trial, including the four units, cost police $373,000.
Police had developed Ella to add a “personal touch”, Bush said. While she may not have all the answers people seek yet, as AI she will continue to learn and grow as her services are used.
Bush said AI had been “proven to work” in other organisations, and said it was a “wonderful addition to the service we provide”.
The kiosks are the latest innovation following the launch of the police 105 number for nonemergency calls, and the new police app, which so far has been downloaded 39,000 times.