PUBLISHER'S NOTE: In recent years, I have found myself publishing more and more posts on the application of artificial intelligence technology to policing, public safety, and the criminal justice process, not just in North America, but in countries all over the world, including China. Although I accept that properly applied science can play a positive role in our society, I have learned over the years that technologies introduced for the so-called public good, can eventually be used against the people they were supposed to benefit. As reporter Sieeka Khan writes in Science Times: "In 2017, researchers sent a letter to the secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security. The researchers expressed their concerns about a proposal to use the AI to determine whether someone who is seeking refuge in the US would become a positive and contributing member of society or if they are likely to become a threat or a terrorist. The other government uses of AI are also being questioned, such as the attempts at setting bail amounts and sentences on criminals, predictive policing and hiring government workers. All of these attempts have been shown to be prone to technical issues and a limit on the data can cause bias on their decisions as they will base it on gender, race or cultural background. Other AI technologies like automated surveillance, facial recognition and mass data collection are raising concerns about privacy, security, accuracy and fairness in a democratic society. As the executive order of Trump demonstrates, there is a massive interest in harnessing AI for its full, positive potential. But the dangers of misuse, bias and abuse, whether it is intentional or not, have the chance to work against the principles of international democracies. As the use of artificial intelligence grows, the potential for misuse, bias and abuse grows as well. The purpose of this 'technology' series, is to highlight the dangers of artificial intelligence - and to help readers make their own assessments as to whether these innovations will do more harm than good."
Harold Levy: The Charles Smith Blog:
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "The use of advanced technology to collect and analyze crime data has shown some success in Colombia. But the proposed artificial intelligence system — while innovative and a potential gamechanger in attacking crime — faces vast difficulties in setting up and comes with some potential drawbacks. When describing the system, Gomez Jaramillo said deciding data inputs and designing a reliable algorithm is an enormous hurdle. “If the [data] are not relevant,” he told Semana, “then we would have nothing to interpret.” There is also the concern of machine bias. US authorities have used algorithms to aid judges in determining sentences for crimes by providing scores on the likelihood that the person will commit another crime. Yet an investigation by news organization Pro Publica found that such algorithms were “remarkably unreliable in forecasting violent crime,” and showed bias against black people. Countries in Latin America have deployed ineffective artificial intelligence systems. Uruguay, for example, implemented a predictive policing software, but the program was scrapped after three years due to the system’s “high degree of opacity and itspotential to reinforce discrimination and exclusion,” according to a World Wide Web Foundation report. Even with such issues, it is clear that pattern-recognition tools that can analyze massive data sets are the future of policing, and Colombia appears to be on the cutting edge."
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STORY: "Will an Algorithm Help Colombia Predict Crime?," by reporter Laura Marcela Zuñiga, published by InSight Crime on May 2, 2019.
SUB-HEADING: Colombia has turned to data analytics and AI to fight crime but getting the right results will be challenging
SUB-HEADING: Colombia has turned to data analytics and AI to fight crime but getting the right results will be challenging
GIST: "An initiative to create an artificial intelligence system that analyzes massive amounts of data to recognize criminal patterns underscores how Colombia seeks to use advanced technology to respond to crime threats. The system, which is expected to first be deployed in Bogotá, will use crime data to pinpoint hotspots, identify patterns, and predict where crimes are likely to occur. To develop the system, authorities in Bogotá teamed with the mathematics faculty at the Universidad Nacional and a private company that specializes in predictive modeling. The project is expected to be finished in less than three years, Semana reported. Through data from the police, prosecutors, security cameras, emergency dispatchers, surveys, and other sources, the system’s aim will be to detect the “largest patterns to know the when, how and why of criminal acts in Bogotá, and realize interventions at the local level,” said Francisco Gomez Jaramillo, one of the project’s directors and a mathematics professor at Universidad Nacional. This is just the latest effort by Colombian authorities to incorporate data into their crime-fighting strategies. Others include the online crime reporting portal Adenunciar, and the use of data crunching software by the Attorney General’s Office to detect false claims made within the country’s public health system. The latter found some three million false claims costing some $724 million Colombian pesos (around $228 million), according to a report by the Attorney General’s Office. Attorney General Néstor Humberto Martínez has also credited his office’s use of computer-assisted data analysis to detect an armed robbery ring. The group convinced victims that a fictitious military officer had discovered a “caleta,” or stash, of buried drug money, and then offered to exchange the US cash at half the price. When the victims arrived with the money, the group robbed them at gunpoint. Through data analysis, prosecutors identified 58 cases where the same method was used across eight departments of Colombia, Martínez said in a news release. Colombia has long used DNA in forensic investigations, but the Attorney General’s Office recently asked for funding to create a DNA database for the purpose of crime solving. Martinez stated that such a system would improve the country’s investigative standards by 80 percent. However, the ambitious proposal would have to undergo a long legislative process to receive approval. InSight Crime Analysis: The use of advanced technology to collect and analyze crime data has shown some success in Colombia. But the proposed artificial intelligence system — while innovative and a potential gamechanger in attacking crime — faces vast difficulties in setting up and comes with some potential drawbacks. When describing the system, Gomez Jaramillo said deciding data inputs and designing a reliable algorithm is an enormous hurdle. “If the [data] are not relevant,” he told Semana, “then we would have nothing to interpret.” There is also the concern of machine bias. US authorities have used algorithms to aid judges in determining sentences for crimes by providing scores on the likelihood that the person will commit another crime. Yet an investigation by news organization Pro Publica found that such algorithms were “remarkably unreliable in forecasting violent crime,” and showed bias against black people. Countries in Latin America have deployed ineffective artificial intelligence systems. Uruguay, for example, implemented a predictive policing software, but the program was scrapped after three years due to the system’s “high degree of opacity and its potential to reinforce discrimination and exclusion,” according to a World Wide Web Foundation report. Even with such issues, it is clear that pattern-recognition tools that can analyze massive data sets are the future of policing, and Colombia appears to be on the cutting edge."
The entire story can be read at:
https://www.insightcrime.org/news/analysis/data-intelligence-helping-predict-crime-in-colombia/
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/c
-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog."
