The Chinese authorities are interested in the field of predictive analysis, facial recognition technologies and other aspects related to artificial intelligence (AI), which can be used to prevent future crimes. By analyzing patterns of behavior, the authorities will notify the local police about potential criminals. Yes, you read that right, it's like in Steven Spielberg's science fiction film Minority Report.
Cloud Walk, headquartered in Guangzhou city, conducts machine learning of facial recognition systems, as well as analysis and evaluation of big data to track the risk level of potential criminals. Those who frequent gun shops or frequent transportation hubs are more likely to be flagged by the system. Even visitors to hardware stores can fall under "suspicion", because these places are considered by the authorities as "high risk" zones.
“Of course, if someone buys a kitchen knife, there is nothing criminal here. But if the same person buys a bag and a hammer in pursuit, then he will become suspicious for the system, - said a representative of the Cloud Walk company in a conversation with the Financial Times.
The Cloud Walk software is already networked with a police database of over 50 cities and provinces and can tag suspicious individuals in real time. The country also already has a system of "personal re-identification" used as a crime prevention measure: the system is capable of identifying people in different places, even if they wear different clothes.
“We can use the re-ID system to find suspicious people wandering back and forth in the same area or wearing masks,” Len Biao, a professor of imagery at Beijing Aviation and Astronautics University, told the Financial Times.
"With re-ID, it is also possible to trace a person's path across a large area."
China is certainly one of those ideal places where technology like this could be used to its fullest. Through the use of over 176 million surveillance cameras, the government has a huge, comprehensive database of its citizens. In other words, the country provides a huge platform for collecting all the information of interest and, therefore, allows you to effectively train your AI systems, while without any legal obstacles.
But these are far from the only ways China can expand the capabilities of its AI systems. The government of this country recently announced a large-scale, thoughtful and funded plan to turn China into the world leader in the field of artificial intelligence by 2030. The authorities are installing facial recognition systems in schools to prevent student cheating on exams, on the streets to prevent pedestrian violations of rules, and even in public toilets (!) To reduce waste of toilet paper (!!!), according to Futurism. Therefore, it is not at all surprising if the government of this country wants to use the same technology to fight crime and perhaps even its predictions.
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“If we use our smart systems and tools wisely, we can know in advance … who might be a terrorist or plan to do something bad,” Vice Minister of Science and Technology Li Meng told the Financial Times.
No matter how you think about China's plans to use a system that was clearly inspired by the film "Minority Report", artificial intelligence can really make the world safer. While AI certainly has the potential to be used as a surveillance tool, it can also be used to protect privacy, health information, financial information, and as a means to prevent hacker attacks. Artificial intelligence could be in charge of security cameras, security robots, and more efficient military technology. AI will be able to reduce the number of car accidents by at least 90 percent. In other words, you can object and be against the use of AI in certain areas,but it is foolish and shortsighted to object to artificial intelligence technology in general, at least if you are truly concerned about the future of our security and privacy, both on and off the Internet.
Nikolay Khizhnyak
