China Built An AI Prosecutor Capable Of Identifying Crimes & Filing Charges

Attempting to evade the law just got a little harder. In China, researchers say they have created artificial intelligence that’s capable of reporting crimes and filing charges against suspects.

The technology was built upon an existing AI tool used in the country by prosecutors to help assess a case’s evidence and decide if the suspect in question was a threat to public safety. 

However, the source had its limitations. A research paper seen by the South China Morning Post reportedly states that the developers had noted that while this initial AI could help, it wasn’t able to carry out the process of filing charges and suggesting suitable sentences.

Hence the new tech, which can identify and charge the eight most common crimes that occur in the district. These include things like credit card fraud, reckless driving, and, uh, political dissent. It wasn’t specified how the AI would decide on the latter.  

The SCMP reports that this machine, developed by the Shanghai Pudong People’s Procratorate, is apparently 97% accurate when filing a charge based on just a mere description of a suspected case.

Despite a high accuracy, it does beg the question of what will happen to the other 3%. A lawyer, who requested to remain anonymous, purportedly questions, “Who will take responsibility when it happens? The prosecutor, the machine or the designer of the algorithm?” 

It’s also concerning to note the implications this system could have, considering the issues surrounding police brutality that have taken the spotlight numerous times in recent years. 

At time of writing, the AI hasn’t been widely rolled out. As it’s still in early stages, it presumably will still require a lot more testing and tweaking before starting to operate on a wider scale. Here’s hoping that the dystopian future this implies doesn’t come to settle much earlier than we’re prepared for. 

[via Futurism, image  ID 124076881 © Kittipong Jirasukhanont | Dreamstime.com]